Several More Horror Stories Mostly from PA Inquiry Into Catholic Pedophile Priests

Pennsylvania Diocese removes priest accused of

child sex abuse

By The Associated Press

The Roman Catholic pastor of a southwestern Pennsylvania parish has been removed from ministry after the local diocese received what it calls a credible allegation of the sexual abuse of a minor.

Wednesday's revelation by the Greensburg Diocese comes amid growing fallout from a state grand jury report that accused a succession of church leaders of covering up abuse by 300 Catholic priests in Pennsylvania since the 1940s.

The Greensburg Diocese says the allegation against Monsignor Michael Matusak dates back almost 20 years. He's at least the third Catholic clergy member in Pennsylvania to be under investigation independently of the grand jury report.

The diocese says it relayed the allegation to state child welfare authorities and the county prosecutor.

The diocese says it's the only allegation it ever received against Matusak.

Several more Pennsylvania predator priests

part of child sex abuse report

By Laura Hayes laurahayes@pressandjournal.com

A teacher at Bishop McDevitt High School, Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, reported Father Augustine Giella in April 1987.

A girl had told the teacher that Giella watched her use the restroom and did other “wrong things” with the children.

Giella was at the time a priest at St. John the Evangelist in Enhaut, which would later be consolidated into the present Prince of Peace parish in Steelton.

The teacher reported the girl’s account to Father Joseph Coyne, who reported it to the Diocese of Harrisburg.

Monsignor Hugh Overbaugh, in an April 1987 memorandum, recorded the complaint, a second similar allegation from another girl and a third complaint of “acting improperly” toward another girl.

“Overbaugh concluded his memo, ‘Father Coyne was instructed to do nothing in the case until the matter had been discussed with diocesan legal counsel,’” the report read.

Astonishing! 3 accusations by 3 different girls and he is not removed from his position! The Monsignor should be held accountable.

These details were part of a sweeping report compiled by a grand jury who for the past two years has been investigating allegations of child sexual abuse within six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office released the report Aug. 14.

Giella is one of 301 clergy members of which the grand jury claims there are credible allegations of child sexual abuse made against them.

Giella remained at the Enhaut church until 1988 when he voluntarily retired. He continued to sexually abuse children until 1992, according to the grand jury report.

When Giella first came to St. John the Evangelist, the grand jury said he was embraced by a family. The daughters would go to the rectory to do chores for the priest and count the collection money. The report states that Giella became a “grandfather figure” who would bring  toys and gifts, take the daughters on trips and join the family during celebrations.

Giella sexually abused five of the eight daughters, according to the report.

According to the report, Giella was ordained in the Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey in 1950. He served in New Jersey for 29 years until he reached out to then-Bishop Joseph Daley to ask for assignment to the Harrisburg diocese. Giella reportedly wanted his own parish, which he thought was unlikely to happen in New Jersey.

Giella was first assigned to St. Joseph’s Church in Hanover before then being moved to St. John the Evangelist church in Enhaut.

After he left St. John the Evangelist, Giella reportedly moved back to New Jersey and the family continued to visit him. During the last of the trips, the report states that partially or fully nude photos of one of the children was found in Giella’s residence, and the child’s mother noticed that the child had been withdrawn. When asked what was wrong, the child shared her experience with Giella, according to the report.

The family reported it to the church and police, and in August 1992, Giella was arrested but later died while awaiting trial. According to the report, when police executed a search warrant at Giella’s home, they found a number of items including pubic hair, underwear, urine, used feminine sanitary products and explicit photos. According to the report, the diocese settled with the family for almost $1 million. 

Other women came forward to police, reporting of abuse by Giella.

The sisters told the grand jury about the challenges they faced as a result of the abuse — psychological, emotional and interpersonal damage. One of the sisters had a panic attack during the grand jury proceedings after seeing a man who resembled the priest.

The child’s mother, who didn’t know if Giella’s behavior was reported to the diocese, confronted Overbaugh. The grand jury report states that there was evidence that diocesan officials knew. During grand jury proceedings, the mother described the confrontation.

“Overbaugh stated, ‘I wondered why you were letting them go to the rectory,’” according to the report.

“If it does nothing else, this report removes any remaining doubt that the failure to prevent abuse was a systemic failure, an institutional failure,” the grand jury report stated.

The grand jury wrote that because of the coverup, most of the accused can’t be charged. “What we can do is tell our fellow citizens what happened, and try to get something done about it,” the report said.

The grand jury reportedly identified more than 1,000 child victims from the records from the six dioceses — Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton — although officials say they believe the actual number of victims may be in the thousands.

The grand jury estimated that this is the largest kind of this type of grand jury report to date — the Philadelphia report identified more than 60 priests, and the Altoona-Johnstown report identified approximately 50.

In the Harrisburg diocese, the grand jury identified 45 offenders — most of the priests are identified by name, though some are identified by “Harrisburg Priest No. 1” or their names are redacted.

Of the 301 priests identified in the report, five have ties to churches in Middletown and Steelton:

• Giella served at St. John the Evangelist from 1982-1988.

• Father Jerry Kucan served at St. Mary’s in Steelton from 1961 to 1972 and again from 1979 to 1982.

• Father John Allen served at St. Ann’s in Steelton from 1978 to 1980.

• Father T. Ronald Haney served at St. James and Bishop McDevitt High School from 1964 to 1967 and St. Ann’s in Steelton in 1967 and again from 1981 to 1985.

• Father Salvatore Zangari served at St. Ann’s in Steelton from 1969-1973. Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary church in Middletown indicates on its website that Zangari served as an assistant from June to September 1951, although that is not noted in the grand jury report.

“We think it’s reasonable to expect one of the world’s great religions dedicated to the spiritual well-being of over a billion people, to find ways to organize itself so that the shepherds stop preying upon the flock,” the report reads.

Grand jury vs. diocese report

The grand jury’s report comes on the heels of a list of 72 clergy members and seminarians who have been accused of sexually abusing a child since the 1940s that was released by the Diocese of Harrisburg earlier this month.

There is some overlap between priests on the grand jury’s report and those identified by the diocese. Giella, Kucan, Allen, Haney and Zangari all appear on both lists.

Three other priests are on the diocese’s list, but not the grand jury’s. Father Frederick Bradel served at Seven Sorrows in Middletown from 1964 to 1966, and the diocese said he was accused of inappropriate behavior after his death. Father John Bolen served at St. James’ church in Steelton in 1926 and 1927 and was accused after his death of having sexually abused a child. Father William Haviland served at St. Peter the Apostle in Steelton from 1991 to 1995 and from 1990 to 1991 at St. John the Evangelist in Steelton, and accusations were made of him sexually abusing children both while he was alive and following his death. 

John Allen

According to the report, in 2002, a man reported that Father John Allen sexually abused him when he was a minor. Allen reportedly picked up the child along State Street in Harrisburg and sexually abused him numerous times.

The report states that the diocese had concerns about Allen dating back to 1970, and in 1991 he was sent to a center for an evaluation. The next year, parishioners contacted the diocese after they learned that Allen had been arrested by the Lancaster City Police after he reportedly solicited an undercover officer. According to the report, the parishioners said Allen invited altar boys to his room in the rectory.

Father Paul Helwig wrote a memorandum to then-Harrisburg Bishop Nicholas Dattilo stating that Allen had attended a Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous meeting in which the priest implied “that he was a pedophile and had an ‘obsession with young boys.’”

After the 2002 report, the diocese suspended Allen’s ability to publicly function as a priest.

And it only took the 32 years to act!!!

More men came forward, alleging sexual abuse by Allen. One man told the diocese that while he was a minor and later when he became an adult, Allen paid him for sexual acts. Another man reportedly told the diocese that while he was an altar boy and a minor, Allen made him play strip poker and later took the boy to his rectory quarters.

In 2005, the Congregation for the Doctrine supported a diocese petition to dismiss Allen from the clergy, which was granted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.

Father T. Ronald Haney

One evening, when Haney was at a home for dinner, the parents of a 7-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy heard Haney tell the girl, “I guess you have heard about pedaphilia [sic],” according to the report.

On a second occasion, the mother was told by another parishoner said that Haney commented on the daughter’s buttocks. The second parishioner said that Haney put his hand on her daughter’s buttocks when he stopped by her home on Christmas Day 1994, according to the report.

The two women reportedly confronted Haney, and they told the diocese that Haney was embarrassed and hurt “and apologized profusely for the difficulties he caused them.”

Father Jerry Kucan

Kucan reportedly began regularly abusing one boy after he started serving midnight mass in 1974 when Kucan was stationed at St. Anthony’s school in Sharon, in the Diocese of Erie.

Kucan gave the boy a St. Christopher necklace and asked him to serve the morning mass before school. According to the report, the boy would be called out of class to meet Kucan and a brother in a room on the second floor of the school gym where the boy would be sexually assaulted.

In a letter to the Erie diocese in 2005, the survivor wrote that “Kucan told [victim] that if he ever told anyone about their relationship, [victim’s] mother would lose her job in the school kitchen and he would be kicked out of school.”

According to the report, Kucan was a member of the Croatian Franciscan Custody of the Holy Family. After the diocese received the survivor’s letter, then-Bishop of Erie Donald Trautman responded that he reached out to a priest with the Croatian Franciscans asking that they call the victim. Trautman reportedly included contact information for a Catholic Charities where the victim lived to help with his emotional issues.

The wife of a victim reached out to the church in 2007, saying that her husband and his cousins had been sexually abused at St. Anthony’s. The woman in a letter said that her husband had depression and later committed suicide.

The woman asked if she could see similar reports. Monsignor Robert J. Smith responded, according to the report, saying that he was sorry and included contact information for the order. Smith also wrote that they received two reports of incidents in the church. He said the second priest was removed from ministry following the report.

According to the report, a 2007 note states that a priest with the order told Smith that Kucan was taken out of ministry following the first report against him in 2005. The order reportedly settled with the victim.

Father Salvatore Zangari

The report stated that the Harrisburg Diocese received multiple allegations of “unwanted sexual misconduct” between Zangari and adult women between 1980 and 1986, and in 1986, Zangari was sent for an evaluation.

“The Institute relayed that Zangari reported he was ‘literally married’ for eight or nine years and had fathered a child,” the report said.

The diocese followed up on the information from the evaluation in 2002 because the report said they weren’t followed up on. At the time, Zangari reportedly denied being or saying that he was married.

Zangari reportedly did admit to having a child with a former student who had attended a school in Lebanon.

In 2002, Bishop Nicholas Dattilo issued a decree and penal precept stating, “Such admissions on the part of Father Zangari constitute full proof of his sexual misconduct with minors,” according to the report.

Zangari had retired in 1986, and his faculties to perform priestly ministry were removed in 2002.

Father John McDevitt

According to the report, McDevitt worked at Bishop McDevitt High School in the 1960s before transferring out of the Harrisburg diocese in 1982.

The report states that a man from Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Middletown had approached an individual whose name is redacted in the report. The man reportedly stated that McDevitt kissed him in a confessional at the high school.

A “sophisticated” coverup

In the press release, Shapiro called the cover up of the abuse “sophisticated” and it protected the church above all. “The main thing was not to help children, but to avoid ‘scandal.’ That is not our word, but theirs; it appears over and over again in the documents we recovered,” the report read.

They likened it to a playbook to conceal the truth or a script — use euphemisms like “boundary issues” instead of violent sexual acts or “sick leave” instead of either permanent or temporary priest removal; have investigations be conducted by untrained clergy or teachers and use untrained support staff for victims; use church-run psychological facilities that relied on self-reports, don’t supply information by the victims, and rely on a diagnosis, and if there wasn’t a diagnosis, return the priest to ministry; tell parishioners that the priests retired or were reassigned; continue to support accused priests with housing, transportation, benefits and stipends; transfer priests instead of removing; and either don’t or give delayed or “stripped-down” reports to police.

Bishops, the grand jury said, went to lengths to keep the reports a secret, and the report states that abuse complaints were kept in a “secret archive” to which only the bishop had a key.

“Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all,” the report states.

In a press release, Harrisburg Bishop Ronald W. Gainer said he read the report with sadness, adding that they acknowledge the “sinfulness” of the harmers and the church leaders who did not respond appropriately.

“I want children, parents, parishioners, students, staff, clergy and the public to know that our churches and our schools are safe; there is nothing we take more seriously than the protection of those who walk through our doors. We send every and all complaints to the proper legal authorities. The safety and well-being of our children is too important not to take immediate and definite action,” Gainer said.

Grand jury recommendations

Two priests have been charged. John Thomas Sweeney, who was a priest in the Diocese of Greensburg, pleaded guilty to indecent assault after he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old boy. Father David Poulson, of the Diocese of Erie, was arrested in May and charged with indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors after he allegedly sexually assaulted boys.

“This isn’t to say that the church is cured of the scourge of child sexual abuse; these active prosecutions show that there are still priests abusing children in Pennsylvania,” the grand jury said. “But with better cooperation, they can be stopped sooner.”

The grand jury recommended eliminating the statute of limitation for child sexual abuse, creating a two-year window to give victims the chance to file civil cases, clarifying the penalties for continuing to fail to report abuse cases, and stopping non-disclosure agreements from preventing victims from going to law enforcement.

“If we learn nothing else from this and prior investigations, let it be this: that sexual abuse, in particular child sexual abuse, is not just a private wrong, to be handled ‘in house.’ It is a crime against society. We’re issuing this report to make that clear, and to push for action,” the report concluded.

Steelton, PA

School drops archbishop's name amid

child sex abuse report fallout

By MARC LEVY, Associated Press

          

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Roman Catholic high school will shed the name of Washington's archbishop after he was cited in a sweeping grand jury report as having allowed priests accused of sexually abusing children to be reassigned or reinstated while he was Pittsburgh's bishop.

The Diocese of Pittsburgh said Wednesday that Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl made the request to remove his name from Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School, and that school and diocese officials accepted it.

The sign out front of the suburban Pittsburgh school was discovered vandalized Monday, with red spray paint obscuring Wuerl's name as some Catholics called for his resignation or ouster, and a petition circulated to remove his name from the high school.

The 77-year-old Wuerl has defended himself, saying he acted to protect children, promptly investigate allegations and strengthen policies as understanding of child abuse evolved. He has said he will not resign.

In its statement, the Pittsburgh Diocese cited what it said was Wuerl's Aug. 16 letter: "In light of the circumstances today and lest we in any way detract from the purpose of Catholic education ... I respectfully ask you to remove my name from it. In this way, there should be no distraction from the great success of the school and, most importantly, the reason for the school — the students."

Wuerl was Pittsburgh's bishop from 1988 through 2006.

In one case cited in the grand jury report released Aug. 14, Wuerl — acting on a doctor's recommendation — enabled priest William O'Malley to return to active ministry as a canonical consultant in 1998 despite allegations of abuse lodged against him in the past and his own admission that he was sexually interested in adolescents.

In his appointment letter, Wuerl wrote, "At the same time I welcome you back to priestly ministry following your leave of absence for personal reasons. Your willingness to serve in this capacity and to be of assistance ... is a sign of your dedication and priestly zeal," the grand jury report said.

Or, it could be you completely misinterpreted that 'sign'?

Years later, according to the report, six more people alleged that they had been sexually assaulted by O'Malley, in some cases after he had been reinstated.

In another case, Wuerl returned a priest to active ministry in 1995, despite having received multiple complaints that the priest, George Zirwas, had molested boys in the late 1980s.

The Pittsburgh Diocese said "today, we would have handled the Zirwas case much differently" and pulled him from ministry, reported an allegation to law enforcement and presented information to an internal diocese board.

The move is part of the growing fallout from a grand jury report that accused a succession of church leaders of covering up the abuse of more than 1,000 children or teenagers by some 300 Catholic priests in Pennsylvania since the 1940s. The bulk of the cases cited in the report came before the early 2000s, the grand jury said, because most of the internal documents turned over by the dioceses concerned those cases.

On Monday, the University of Scranton, a Roman Catholic university in Pennsylvania, announced plans to remove the names of three bishops named in the report from campus buildings, saying it is acting in solidarity with victims of child sexual abuse.

Two weeks before the report was released, the Harrisburg Diocese said it would hold past church leadership accountable for the sexual abuse of children by priests and strip the names of bishops going back 70 years from church properties.

Baltimore Catholic school teacher under investigation for alleged sexual abuse of minor in '80s

Yvonne Wenger and Christina Tkacik

The Baltimore Sun

A former longtime teacher at a Baltimore Catholic school is under investigation for the alleged sexual abuse of a minor in the mid-1980s, according to the Xaverian Brothers.

The lay order of brothers has removed Brother Robert Flaherty from ministry while an investigation by the State’s Attorney’s Office is ongoing, according to a statement by Brother Edward Driscoll, the congregation’s general superior. Flaherty was a teacher at Mount St. Joseph from 1972 to 1993 and from 2008 to 2010.

Flaherty was suspended last week from his teaching job at St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers, Mass., where he worked from 1999 to 2007 and again beginning in 2010.

Xaverian Brothers sponsor both the Southwest Baltimore and Massachusetts school.

Detectives from the Baltimore police’s special investigation section opened an investigation in April into an allegation of abuse, according to police spokesman Detective Jeremy Silbert. A spokeswoman for the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office, Melba Saunders, said, “This is an open and pending matter and we cannot comment at this time.”

Driscoll said the brothers were informed by Baltimore police of the allegation and are cooperating with the prosecutor’s investigation. The allegations come as the Catholic church is reeling from a devastating grand jury report alleging that hundreds of priests abused up to 1,000 victims in Pennsylvania.

Mount St. Joseph’s President George E. Andrews Jr. said in a letter to the school community that the allegation does not involve a current or former student at the all-boys school, which is known for its athletics. The school learned of the allegation after city civil authorities notified the Xaverian Brothers, Andrews said.

Flaherty served as a Mount St. Joseph teacher both before and after he became a brother. Driscoll said Flaherty joined the brothers in September 1979, and after completing a year of training, made his vows in 1980. Flaherty taught in Kentucky from 1994 to 1999. Flaherty could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Xaverian Brothers is rooted in the Roman Catholic Church but is separate from the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The brothers are members of a consecrated lay order. Sean Caine, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said the church has had no prior reports of abuse by Flaherty.

At St. John’s Prep in Massachusetts, Flaherty helped establish the computer science department, according to a 2013 report on the school’s website. The article notes that Flaherty had been inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame at Mount Saint Joseph High School, his alma mater. Flaherty was honored for his contributions as a football, ice hockey, basketball and baseball coach at Mount Saint Joseph, the piece says. He also has coached students at St. John’s.

Flaherty earned a bachelor’s of science in engineering mechanics from Virginia Tech and a master’s in engineering mechanics from the University of Tennessee, according to St. John’s website. He also holds a doctoral degree in computer education from Nova Southeastern University.

Priests Molested Over 1,000 Children in Pennsylvania, Church Leaders Covered It Up

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the Archbishop of Washington, waits outside St. Patrick's Catholic Church prior to the 24th annual 'Blue Mass' May 1, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)  

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Hundreds of Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania molested more than 1,000 children — and possibly many more — since the 1940s, and senior church officials, including a man who is now the archbishop of Washington, D.C., systematically covered up the abuse, according to a grand jury report released Tuesday.

The "real number" of abused children might be in the thousands since some secret church records were lost, and victims were afraid to come forward, the grand jury said.

And some undoubtedly have died of natural causes, some from excessive alcohol, some from suicide. 

"Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing. They hid it all," Attorney General Josh Shapiro said at a news conference in Harrisburg.

The report put the number of abusive clergy at more than 300. In nearly all of the cases, the statute of limitations has run out, meaning that criminal charges cannot be filed. More than 100 of the priests are dead, and many others are retired or have been dismissed from the priesthood or put on leave.

"We are sick over all the crimes that will go unpunished and uncompensated," the grand jury said.

Authorities evaluated each suspect and were able to charge just two, including a priest who has since pleaded guilty. Shapiro said the investigation is ongoing.

Church officials "routinely and purposefully described the abuse as horseplay and wrestling" and simply "inappropriate conduct," Shapiro said.

"It was none of those things. It was child sexual abuse, including rape," he said.

Understand that liars lie and friends often choose to believe those lies even when they know the person is a liar. How dare I call a priest a liar? Priests make vows of celibacy before God. Those priests who break those vows are liars, even to the point of lying to God. And yet, Bishops and Cardinals protect them and not the children they abuse.

You could say that Bishops and Cardinals were protecting the reputation of the church - but, in reality, they were establishing the reputation of the church, the very church that God promises to destroy when Jesus returns. (Rev 17:4; 18)

The grand jury accused Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who leads the Washington archdiocese, of helping to protect abusive priests when he was Pittsburgh's bishop. Wuerl, who led the Pittsburgh diocese from 1988 to 2006, disputed the allegations.

"While I understand this report may be critical of some of my actions, I believe the report confirms that I acted with diligence, with concern for the victims and to prevent future acts of abuse," he said in a statement. "I sincerely hope that a just assessment of my actions, past and present, and my continuing commitment to the protection of children will dispel any notions otherwise made by this report."

The grand jury probe was the most extensive investigation of Catholic clergy abuse by any state. Its findings echoed many earlier church investigations around the country, describing widespread sexual abuse and church officials' concealment of it. U.S. bishops have acknowledged that more than 17,000 people nationwide have reported being molested by priests and others in the church.

Pedophile rings

Most of the Pennsylvania victims were boys, but girls were abused, too, the report said.

The abuse ranged from groping and masturbation to anal, oral and vaginal rape. One boy was forced to say confession to the priest who sexually abused him. A 9-year-old boy was forced to perform oral sex and then had his mouth washed out with holy water. Another boy was made to pose naked as if being crucified and then was photographed by a group of priests who Shapiro said produced and shared child pornography on church grounds.

The grand jury concluded that a succession of Catholic bishops and other diocesan leaders tried to shield the church from bad publicity and financial liability. They failed to report accused clergy to police and sent abusive priests to so-called "treatment facilities," which "laundered" the priests and "permitted hundreds of known offenders to return to ministry," the report said.

Shapiro said the investigation confirmed a "systematic cover-up by senior church officials in Pennsylvania and at the Vatican." The report itself provided scant detail about the Vatican's role, beyond describing a series of confidential reports that bishops made to the Vatican about abusive priests.

The conspiracy of silence extended beyond church grounds. The grand jury said it found cases in which police or prosecutors learned of clergy sex abuse allegations but did not investigate out of deference to church officials.

The grand jury's report comes at a time of renewed scrutiny and fresh scandal at the highest levels of the U.S. Catholic Church. Pope Francis stripped 88-year-old Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of his title and ordered him to a lifetime of prayer and penance amid allegations that McCarrick had for years sexually abused boys and had sexual misconduct with adult seminarians.

Wuerl has come under harsh criticism over his response to the McCarrick scandal, with some commentators questioning his claims of surprise and ignorance over allegations that McCarrick molested and harassed young seminarians.

Wuerl replaced McCarrick as Washington's archbishop after McCarrick retired in 2006.

The Pennsylvania grand jury, convened by the state attorney general's office in 2016, heard from dozens of witnesses and reviewed more than a half-million pages of internal documents from the Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton dioceses.

The Pittsburgh diocese said a few priests are still in ministry because the diocese determined allegations against them were unsubstantiated.

Tim Lennon, the president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, urged Pennsylvania lawmakers to lift civil and criminal statutes of limitations for child sex crimes, and to provide victims who no longer meet the age requirements in state law with a new window to file civil lawsuits.

Some current and former clergy named in the report went to court to prevent its release, arguing it violated their constitutional rights. The state Supreme Court said the public had a right to see it, but ruled the names of priests and others who objected to the findings would be blacked out pending a September hearing on their claims.

Twenty of the grand jurors said Tuesday they objected to "any attempts to censor, alter, redact or amend" the report.

Several dioceses decided to strip the accused of their anonymity and released the names of clergy members who were accused of sexual misconduct.

Amish Bishop Didn't Report Child Sex Abuse, Says It 'Wasn't Really That Bad': Police

Bishop charged by police with failing to report child sex abuse

By Joe Elias, PennLive

An Amish bishop in Dauphin County has been charged with failing to report two cases of child sexual abuse.

Christ M. Stoltzfus, 69, of Roller Road in Mifflin Township, told investigators that he was informed that one of the incidents "wasn't really that bad" during an interview in February, according to state police.

State police said that under the law clergymen are required to inform law enforcement about cases of child sexual abuse.

In January, a member of Stoltzfus' church told troopers he informed the bishop of the cases of child sexual abuse that occurred in 2011.

Both cases involved Daniel Ray Fisher, 44, of Weaver Road in Mifflin Township, records state.

Fisher was charged in a separate case in November and again in January with inappropriately touching a then 5-year-old girl and a then-10-year-old girl, records state.

In one case, Fisher offered to adjust the girl's dress and assaulted her; in the other he asked to see a girl's snow pants and then assaulted her, records state.

During an interview in November, troopers said Fisher began to "sweat profusely" and eventually told the investigators, "You got me," records state.

Fisher has been charged with aggravated indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of a minor and indecent assault in each case.

Fisher is currently free on $50,000 bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for June 8.

During their interview with Stoltzfus in February, troopers told him it appeared as though he was covering up the cases of sexual abuse, police said.

Stoltzfus responded by saying "Well that's what happened in that case...I didn't know everything," records state.

On May 9, Stoltzfus was charged with with two counts of failing to report suspected child abuse. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for June 14.

Court records indicate Stoltzfus has not yet been arraigned on the charges.

Mifflin Twnshp, PA

3 States, 3 Bills on Child Sex Abuse - Legislation Improving Somewhat

Maryland Governor signs bill to help

child sex abuse victims

by John Rydell

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WBFF) - Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has signed into law a bill which increases the age victims of child sexual abuse can file civil suits against their abusers.

Current law limits such lawsuits to age 25, but the bill signed by the governor would increase the age to age 38.

This is a big improvement and I congratulate Delegate Wilson and Governor Hogan. I would have preferred that there be no age limit at all, but 38 is certainly much better than 25.

Del. C.T. Wilson, a Democrat who represents Charles County, is calling the signing of the bill a victory for victims of child sexual abuse. 

Three years ago, Wilson disclosed to his legislative colleagues that he was a victim of child sexual abuse. Wilson says: "I want folks to know they're not alone; there are a lot of victims out there. It takes a long time to come to grips with what you're going through. I'm still going through it, and just because the abuse stops, doesn't mean the damage does."

Wilson attended Tuesday's bill signing ceremony at the Maryland State House, where he was hugged by Hogan, who said: "I want to thank Delegate C.T. Wilson for his incredible leadership on this bill."

Wilson says he will not financially benefit from the legislation but he hopes the new law will help other victims. Wilson says: "Most folks don't come to grips with what they've gone through by age 25. Sometimes it takes having children of your own to realize what you've been through and you don't want anyone else to go through it."

Amendments to Penn state sex-abuse bill could kill it

Changes would allow victims to pursue limitless damages

By Karen Langley and Maria Panaritis / Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG — In a move that could doom the measure, a key state House committee Tuesday broadened a child sex abuse bill to allow victims who sue to pursue potentially limitless damages from private and governmental institutions, including school districts.

Under the amended bill, which sparked some debate among members, government entities would lose elements of sovereign immunity, exposing them to large liability awards. It is attached to a new version of a controversial bill that died last year amid battles waged by victim advocates, the Catholic Church and the insurance lobby.

Tuesday’s vote to lift caps on the amount of money sex abuse litigants can collect in lawsuits against governmental entities was viewed by some supporters of expanding child sex abuse victims’ rights as a “poison pill.”

That is because in at least one other state, Colorado, legislation to expose government institutions to lawsuits unleashed the opposition of the school boards association, and failed. Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, then archbishop in Denver, was key in defeating that effort.

Material health means nothing for a Church,

unless it sets the stage for something more important:

renewing the heart and spirit.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

The issue of capping public civil payouts was not part of last year’s legislative fight in Harrisburg. That bill died over a different provision that sought to let adult victims of decades-old abuse sue private institutions. That provision is expected to be added to the House bill in the weeks ahead.

The amendment by the committee Tuesday removes much of the shield that last year’s legislation put in place for public entities.

Last year’s legislation would have allowed lawsuits only in the event of “gross negligence.” The bill amended by the House on Tuesday is a Senate bill approved earlier this year to expand the rights of victims to sue. The Senate bill reduced the threshold for suing public entities to just negligence.

That, combined with the House committee’s decision to lift liability limits, significantly exposes institutions that had more protection under last year’s bill.

“The intent of this amendment is to make a level playing field,” said Rep. Joseph Petrarca, D-Westmoreland, who sponsored the cap amendment. “What we’re trying to do is stop this behavior of what’s going on with sexual predators.”

But Rep. Rick Saccone, R-Elizabeth Township, said the removal of stronger sovereign immunity protections, and of the caps on damages, would be unfair to taxpayers.

“I think we should concentrate on going after the perpetrators and make them as accountable as humanly possible,” he said. “The highest offense, the most egregious act that someone could commit, is these types of things, and I think they should be held personally accountable, not the taxpayer.”

The bill, which passed the committee by a 22-5 vote, is expected to reach the House floor later this month. Victim advocates will fight for language allowing adult victims the right to sue for what happened to them decades ago.

The bill approved by the committee retained Senate language to eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for future cases of child sex abuse. But it did not accept the Senate bill’s total elimination of the civil statute. The Senate bill would have placed no time limit on when future victims could sue their attackers or other individuals for child abuse they suffered.

Instead, the House committee chaired by Ron Marsico, R-Dauphin, changed the bill to give future victims up to age 50 to file such lawsuits. Currently, victims have only until age 30 to do so.

A year ago, the House overwhelmingly passed a child sex-abuse bill that contained retroactive rights for people up to age 50 to sue. Its 180-15 vote came at the height of a clergy abuse scandal in the Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

But that controversial provision was removed from the legislation in the Senate, after an intense push by advocates for the church and the insurance industry, who questioned its constitutionality and said it could unfairly punish struggling congregations.

Nebraska child sex abuse lawsuit bill wins initial approval

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill that would lift the statute of limitations for child abuse sex victims to sue perpetrators has won first-round approval in the Nebraska Legislature.

Lawmakers advanced the measure Wednesday with a 29-3 vote.

Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha says ending the statute of limitations is important because child sex abuse victims sometimes repress their memories or feel too ashamed to talk about what they experienced until later in life.

A statute of limitations would remain in place for people who were abused before the bill goes into effect if their claims were previously time barred. Victims would have to file lawsuits within 35 years after their 18th birthday or three years after the date when the bill goes into effect, whichever is longer.

As with the Maryland bill, this is a big improvement over the status quo, but, here, leaves victims of historical child sex abuse completely out in the cold. There needs to be a window of opportunity for all victims to sue their abusers.

Pennsylvania Senate Passes Child Sex Abuse Bill that Lifts Some Time Limits for Lawsuits

Steve Esack Contact Reporter
Call Harrisburg Bureau

Pennsylvania State Senate chamber

Without debate and by voice vote Wednesday, the state Senate approved a bill to lift time limits and give some child sex abuse victims more time to sue their alleged abusers and any employers who protected them

The bill now moves to the House, where its fate is unknown. Many lawmakers oppose it because it gives victims 31 or older the option of retroactively suing their perpetrator.

Final Senate approval came two days after the bill was resurrected this legislative session by Senate President pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson.

In doing so the Senate got a leg up on the House, which last year led the charge on tougher civil and criminal penalties for child sex abuse.

Representatives acted after a statewide grand jury report accused two Catholic bishops of allowing at least 50 priests and other religious leaders to sexually abuse hundreds of children for five decades in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. Lawmakers also were moved last year by Democratic Rep. Mark Rozzi's emotional public testimony about his own abuse at the hands of an Allentown Diocese priest when he was 13.

Pennsylvania State Capitol

In March, the House approved a bill giving some adults an additional 20 years to sue for past abuse they may have endured as children. The House bill raised the age limit for old lawsuits from 30 to 50. The House bill also erased the statute of limitations on when future criminal sex-abuse charges can be filed, meaning sex charges could be brought any time after alleged abuse occurred.

When the bill moved to the Senate, senators kept the criminal provision for new cases, but removed the retroactive civil lawsuit clause, which was opposed by two powerful lobbying groups — the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania.

Insurance companies should not be allowed to lobby governments!

Like the lobbying groups and some legal experts, senators believed the state Supreme Court would deem the retroactive lawsuits unconstitutional, which could jeopardize the legality of the whole bill. Rather than allow lawsuits on old cases, the Senate removed time limits for a future victim or a victim who is not yet 30 to sue the abuser and anyone who may have known about it and failed to report it to authorities.

A majority of Republican and House lawmakers disagreed with the Senate's legal opinion, so the chamber's GOP leadership let the Senate version die without a vote.

While lawmakers debated, the attorney general's office launched another grand jury investigation in six of the state's eight Catholic dioceses, including Allentown. The ongoing investigation is examining church records and taking testimony to determine if officials in those dioceses participated in the same coverup schemes as occurred in Altoona-Johnstown and Philadelphia Archdiocese.

The Senate bill is an exact copy of the failed bill, and Scarnati said he is ready to negotiate with the House on every provision — but the retroactivity clause.

"It's not that I don't stand with victims; I stand with the Constitution," Scarnati said. "I detest what these victims suffered or allegedly suffered. This bill will do much good for those moving forward."

Amy Hill, spokeswoman for the Catholic conference, said last year's civil statute of limitations debate drowned out the Catholic community's commitment to healing and recovery for victims.

"However the legislative debate proceeds, it will not diminish the Catholic Church's sincere commitment to the emotional well-being of individuals who have been impacted by the crime of childhood sexual abuse, no matter how long ago the crime was committed," Hill said. "We encourage anyone who is a survivor of abuse by someone in the Catholic Church to first contact authorities and report it, then contact their local diocese to get assistance for support services."

Rozzi, who represents Berks County, said Monday he appreciated the Senate's swift and somewhat surprising move to vote on the bill. But, he said, the retroactivity clause remains the most important piece of the bill as evidenced by the Altoona-Johnstown report, the ongoing grand jury investigation and calls many legislators are getting from past victims around the state.

"I'm happy we are going to get a chance to work on this right away," Rozzi said. "I've always said we don't need another grand jury to do the right thing and this is good public policy. If someone decided to challenge it in court, so be it."

Men Dressed Up as Animals Sexually Abused Boy During 'Furry Parties'

The victim told police he was repeatedly sexually abused by a man dressed up as an animal during "furry parties" in Bucks County

By David Chang

Police arrested five men in connection to the repeated sexual abuse of a young boy during "furry parties" in Bucks County. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced the charges during a press conference Sunday. 

Police arrested a group of men accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a boy while dressed up as "furries" in Bucks County.

(L to R), Kenneth Fenske, David Parker, Jeffrey Harvey 

Photo credit: Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office

Kenneth Fenske, 57, of Quakertown, Bucks County; David Parker, 38, of Stroudsburg, Monroe County; Jeffrey Harvey, 40, of West Wyoming, Luzerne County; Craig Knox and Stephen Taylor were all arrested in connection with the case.

Investigators say the abuse began in 2009 when Parker began taking a 9-year-old boy to a Bucks County home where a group of men dressed up as animals and referred to themselves as "furries."

Furry fandom is a subculture in which people dress up in animal costumes and identify as a chosen animal. It mostly consists of visual art, conventions, games, toys and online communities, though in rare cases it also involves a sexual fetish.

Pedophiles will always find a way to take a good thing and turn it into an opportunity to abuse children. There is a certain genius to evil.

The boy told investigators that a man dressed up as a Red Fox who called himself "Lupine," would take him upstairs during the parties and sexually abuse him. The boy said the abuse occurred several times over a seven-year period. The boy identified "Lupine" as Kenneth Fenske.

Fenske was arrested Friday and charged with child rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and unlawful contact with a minor. He was arraigned and was held on $750,000 bail. Online court records don't list an attorney for him.

Parker, Harvey, Knox and Taylor were arrested as well, on a variety of charges.

Parker is charged with child rape, possession of child pornography and other related offenses. Harvey is charged with unlawful contact with a minor, criminal use of a cell phone, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and statutory sexual assault. Knox, who was arrested in Virginia, is charged with sexual offenses. Taylor was also arrested in Virginia for bestiality and other related offenses, investigators said.

Officials say the victim is currently in foster care and receiving therapy. They also say the victim is related to one of the suspects, according to court documents, though they would not go into further detail in order to protect the boy's identity.

"This is a horrendous case," Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. "It is deeply disturbing to me not only as Attorney General of Pennsylvania, but as a father of young children. We care about this victim and all victims of sexual abuse."

Shapiro said the investigation is ongoing and there will likely be more arrests.

"We believe it is likely there could be more victims out there from this ring of abuse," Shapiro said. "We want to help them and protect them from any further abuse. We're seeking the public's help today and asking people to come forward and speak with our Office or the Bucks DA's Office if they know anything."

If you have any information on the case, please call 1-800-385-1044. You can also give an anonymous tip on the Attorney General website.

Bucks Co., PA

More Charges Laid Against Alberta Child Porn Suspect

By Leanne Murray

A Blackfalds, Alberta man already accused of travelling to Pennsylvania with intent to have sex with a 16-year-old girl he met online is now facing more charges.

41-year-old Brian Haberman was arrested last October and charged with making explicit material available to a minor as well as possessing, accessing, and making child pornography.

After seizing computers and other electronic devices from Haberman's home, members of ALERT's Internet Child Exploitation unit say they found sexually explicit photos of the teen girl, who they believe was 15 when the online relationship began.

 

ALERT began investigating in March of last year after they received a report from Cybertip.ca, a website to report online sexual exploitation of children.

Over the past several months, Haberman's lawyer had been in negotiations with the Crown Prosecutor to resolve the case.

However, new charges have now been laid after a second alleged victim came forward and Haberman's case will be back in court August 22.

    Blackfalds is a town of about 6500 just north of Red Deer, Alberta

Another Pennsylvania Diocese Releases List of Pedophile Priests

Report puts spotlight on child sex abuse involving Harrisburg Diocese clergy

Ivey DeJesus

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg on Tuesday was in the news amid a report regarding child sex abuse within its ranks.

A report by The York Daily Record indicated that the diocese named 15 priests who have been accused of sexually abusing children and who had worked in the 15-county diocese.

Raymond Prybis

The YDR report specifically names the Rev. Raymond Prybis, who once served at St. Joseph's in Dallastown. Prybis was accused of abuse during his time at a Boston-area parish before he was transferred to York County. The report cites a personnel file released by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in January 2015. Prybis did not have a credible allegation of abuse against him while at St. Joseph's, the YDR reported.

Many of the clergy members' names cited in the YDR report have appeared in reports by PennLive and The Patriot-News, both of which have over the years published reports regarding allegations of sexual abuse against priests from the diocese - as well as the respective response from the diocese to those allegations.

Those reports include accounts involving:

Guy Marsico, a former priest assigned to St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Rohrerstown, Lancaster County. (No criminal charges were ever leveled against Marsico).

The 2004 report from the diocese confirming it had received credible reports of sexual abuse of 64 minors by 22 priests since 1950 and had spent $1.9 million in settlements, legal fees and counseling. None of the 22 priests were in active ministry at the time.

In April 2002 the diocese received a "credible allegation" of sexual misconduct with a minor against John Allen, senior pastor at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Church in Penbrook. The allegation stemmed from an incident more than 20 years earlier. Allen resigned from the priesthood within 12 hours. Prosecution was not possible because the statute of limitations had expired.

The 1996 coverage of the Rev. John R. Bostwick, a former priest in Harrisburg. The then 55 Bostwick was placed on administrative leave in Richmond, Va., after the bishop there was notified by Harrisburg diocesan officials that a 28-year-old man had accused the priest of molesting him 15 years prior. Bostwick had assisted at various intervals between the late 1970s and 1992 at three parishes: St. Catherine Laboure in Swatara Twp., St. Leo the Great in Lancaster and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lebanon. Bostwick also worked at Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Md., in the 1980s.

The story that broke in December 1994 involving the Rev. Augustine Giella, who spent nearly seven years as pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Swatara Twp., as well as serving at a parish in Hanover in southern York County. Giella was arrested at his retirement home in Manchester, N.J., and charged with molesting the 14-year-old daughter of a Dauphin County couple whom he had befriended through the church. He died awaiting trial. The Diocese of Harrisburg paid more than $900,000 to the girl's family to settle a civil suit by her parents.

He'll be tried in a Higher Court.

In 1994, the diocese paid out $950,000  to settle nine confirmed cases of sexual abuse of minors by priests. That same year, then-Bishop Nicholas Dattilo appointed a nine-member board of lay persons and clergy to review the diocese's investigative practices and policies regarding sexual misconduct by priests and to encourage victims to come forward with any allegations. The nine confirmed cases of sexual abuse of minors dated back to 1950.

In addition, amid the wake of the grand jury reports out of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, PennLive in 2011 published a comprehensive report on then-Bishop Joseph McFadden, who told PennLive that he had no knowledge of the abuse in Philadelphia. 

There are no liars in the Kingdom  of Heaven.

McFadden was in 2004 appointed auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese. Although McFadden was not named in any of the grand jury reports into widespread and systemic clergy sex abuse in the archdiocese, he spent 11 years as secretary to Cardinal John Krol, who along with Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, featured prominently in the reports' findings.


The late Bishop Joseph McFadden in 2011 told PennLive that he had not known about the widespread clergy sex abuse and cover-up in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. McFadden spent years serving in the archdiocese as a top administrative official.

McFadden said his duties in the cardinal's office had been strictly administrative.

The YDR noted that the March grand jury report into widespread clergy sex abuse in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown had spurred its own report on the Harrisburg Diocese. Among the priests mentioned in the YDR'S report are:

Gerald Bugge who served at St. Anthony of Padua in Lancaster from August 1986 to April 1988. The diocese responded it had no record of a credible allegation against the late Bugge.

William Geiger , who spent time at Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Ephrata from July 1987 to August 1993 and from August 1999 to June 2007; and was at St. Anthony of Padua between April 1994 and August 1999. The diocese has no record of a credible allegation against the late priest, the report stated.

Thomas F. Lawler, who was assigned to churches in the Harrisburg diocese for more than two decades from the 1960s to the 1980s.

James E. Noel, born in York, was the subject abuse allegations after his death, the Harrisburg diocese said. It said there were no allegations against him while he was alive.

James Shaughnessey, who was assigned to Assumption Blessed Virgin Mary in Lebanon and St. Joan of Arc in Hershey in the 1930s and '40s. He is named among accused priests by the Boston archdiocese on its website.

Frederick Vaughn, who served at St. Joseph's in York, St. Peter's in Elizabethtown; St. Mark the Evangelist in Franklin County; and St. James in Dauphin County The Harrisburg Diocese said it received allegations of abuse against Vaughn after his death but not while he was alive, according to
The YDR.

Trial Ordered for Parents Accused of Giving Away Daughter, 14, to Man

It would not by all that unusual to see something like this in

a third world country. I'm sure I've posted articles of such.

But in 21st century America? 

Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus gave their teen daughter to a man who helped them financially

The Associated Press


Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus were ordered to stand trial on Tuesday on child endangerment charges after they allegedly gave their 14-year-old daughter to a man. (CBS News)

A Pennsylvania couple were ordered Tuesday to stand trial on charges they gave away their 14-year-old daughter to a Philadelphia-area man after he helped them out financially.

Daniel and Savilla Stoltzfus were charged with child endangerment after police found a dozen girls living with Lee Kaplan of Feasterville, Pa., earlier this year. Police said Daniel Stoltzfus told them he and his wife "gave" their 14-year-old daughter to Kaplan after he financially helped the former Amish couple.

Kaplan also was ordered to trial on sexual assault charges. Authorities allege that Kaplan fathered two children with the girl. Police determined the other nine girls in Kaplan's home were children of the Stoltzfuses.

All three defendants remain in the Bucks County jail unable to post bail.

Defence attorneys argued there was no legal documentation to prove a marriage had not occurred or the official age of the girl.

The now 18-year-old identified her parents and Kaplan in the courtroom Tuesday, answering questions with simple "yes" and "no" responses.


Lee Kaplan was ordered to stand trial on sexual assault charges on Tuesday. It's alleged he received a 14-year-old girl as a gift. Police found another 12 girls living in his home. (Lower Southampton Police Department/Associated Press)

Defence attorneys at times had difficulty hearing the soft-spoken teen. She testified that she had lived with Kaplan for years and had shared his bed since she moved to his home at 14.

She told the court Tuesday that she still cares for and trusts Kaplan.

Daniel Stoltzfus faces an additional charge of conspiracy in his daughter's alleged sexual assault after prosecutors contended he made the agreement to give his daughter to his business partner to avoid financial ruin.


Dispute over 'gave'

Defence attorneys for the trio disputed the meaning of "gave" in the case. Each questioned what investigators had been told.

Detectives said Kaplan had lied several times and knew the girl's age. The couple, they said, lied about how many children had been in Kaplan's home after learning of the sexual contact.

The teen testified that her parents had not known she was pregnant until her mother assisted in the birth of the then 15-year-old's first child. She said her parents then split residences, with Savilla Stoltzfus and some of Savilla's children moving to also live with Kaplan.

Daniel Stoltzfus's attorney said prosecutors had made a leap in suggesting the girl's father agreed to let his business partner have sexual intercourse with his daughter.

But Bucks County assistant district attorney Mary Kate Kohler maintained that a father does not give a child to another man — especially one who is not a relative — without an understanding that sexual contact could occur.

Kohler argued the girl's father didn't intervene after learning his daughter was pregnant because "that's what he expected."

"He did nothing," Kohler said.

It's absurd to even argue over the word 'gave'. She was given in consideration of financial benefits. In other words, the Stoltzfus' sold their daughter to Kaplan. They sold her into sexual slavery, at 14. 

Attorneys for Kaplan and Savilla Stoltzfus did not make closing arguments to try to persuade the judge to dismiss the charges against their clients.