Tag: Sexual abuse

Jewish Sex Abuse Victim From New Square Speaks Out

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in Jewish Sexual Abuse, Religious Sadists

Jewish Sex Abuse Victim From New Square Speaks Out

 

 

Jewish religious community defends a paedophile.

Says that ‘he is the best’ and ‘a nice guy’.

Still working with the kids.

Yossi, who prefers to use only his first name, says he wants to speak out about his ordeal in the hope that other victims of abuse will come forward. (8/29/13)

NEW SQUARE – A shroud of secrecy surrounds the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community of New Square. Many of the residents shun the outside world and keep to themselves.

However, a sex abuse victim from the community has spoken exclusively to News 12.

Yossi, who prefers to use only his first name, says he wants to speak out about his ordeal in the hope that other victims of abuse will come forward.

Yossi claims that Herschel Taubenfeld, a teacher in his community, inappropriately touched him three times a week for four months.

The teen asked for help from the head rabbis of New Square who had just set up their own sex crimes unit called the VAAD. The agency told him to see a therapist.

Two months later, Yossi reported the abuse to the Ramapo police. He says that his friends stopped talking to him and treated him like he didn’t exist.

Yossi says his attacker admitted to the crimes, but religious leaders in the community sent Taubenfeld to Israel to obtain his rabbinical ordination. He also says he was offered  $100,000 to keep quiet about the situation, which he refused.

In December 2011, one month after Yossi reported the abuse, Taubenfeld turned himself in. He was charged with 30 misdemeanor counts of forcible touching, endangering the welfare of a child and third-degree sex abuse. However, the rabbi avoided jail time in exchange for six years probation.

According to students, Taubenfeld is still teaching at one of New Square’s largest religious schools.

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Jewish Orthodox Religious; Disturbing, Horrific Video Of Camp Dora Golding Child Sex Abuse

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in Jewish Child Sex Abuse, Jewish Orthodox, Religious Child Abuse

Disturbing, Horrific Video Of Camp Dora Golding Child Sex Abuse

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Warning1

Disturbing video allegedly showing Chisdai Ben Porat, a counselor at camp Dora Golding in Pennsylvania, has been posted online.

While there is no nudity in this very brief video clip, it is still extremely disturbing and should not be watched by or shown to anyone who may be hurt by watching it. Survivors of child sex abuse should use extreme caution.

Last updated at 7:40 pm CST

The video runs 44 seconds, is profoundly revolting and disturbing, and is, I’m told, only a small excerpt from what is a much longer and even more disturbing video that cannot be posted.

This is the child sex abuse Camp Dora Golding’s head, Alex Gold, is allegedly covering up – the very same child sex abuse Pennsylvania State Police and local prosecutors have so far done little to stop or punish – even though they allegedly have a copy of this video:

Warning1

Disturbing video allegedly showing Chisdai Ben Porat, a counselor at camp Dora Golding in Pennsylvania, has been posted online.

While there is no nudity in this very brief video clip, it is still extremely disturbing and should not be watched by or shown to anyone who may be hurt by watching it. Survivors of child sex abuse should use extreme caution.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cb0_1385513661

Index Of All Camp Dora Golding Alleged Child Sex Abuse Posts.

Via:- http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/

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Satanic Ritual Abuse

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in Christian Fundamentalism, Hoax, Moral Panic, Pseudo Therapists, Satan Ritual Abuse

Satanic Ritual Abuse
Sacrifice of a Christian Child
Sacrifice of a Christian Child (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sacrifice of a Christian Child (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

The flyers were all over the psychology building. Dr. Richard Ofshe, a renowned professor at the University of California at Berkeley who had won a Pulitzer years earlier, was delivering a lecture on the use of recovered memories in psychotherapy. It was the mid-1990s, and I was in graduate school at the time. I knew that Ofshe had become a controversial figure due to his evidence-based criticism of attempts by therapists to recover client’s memories of childhood sexual abuse during therapy. I rearranged my schedule so I could attend his lecture. I had no idea just how controversial it was going to be.

I assume that my readers are generally familiar with the term moral panic. Notorious examples of moral panics in the U.S. include the Red Scare, Salem witch trials, and the so-called “Satanic panic” that emerged during the 1980s over fears of Satanic ritual abuse. The idea that there were Satanic cults operating in nearly every town throughout the U.S. caught on in a big way and would not really begin to fade away until the late 1990s. It was a fascinating period to have lived through, and I sometimes have a difficult time believing that it happened at all.

The connection between fears of Satanic ritual abuse and efforts by therapists to recover repressed memories of child sexual abuse was critical to understanding the phenomena. Some of the key developments included the following:

  • The publication of self-help books that told readers “If you ever suspect that you might have been abused as a child, you were abused as a child.” The most notorious example of such a book and one with which I am unfortunately quite familiar was The Courage to Heal.
  • The reliance on outdated, unsupported, and even thoroughly discredited theories of human memory by many therapist-training programs.
  • Widespread use of hypnosis and other methods known to distort memory and even create false memories among suggestible individuals by poorly trained therapists.

Efforts by well-intentioned but misguided therapists during this time ruined many families, sent innocent people to prison, and fueled the panic over Satanic ritual abuse. Dr. Ofshe was one of the leading skeptics in psychology, and his research helped to end some of the worst abuses by therapists. His influential book at the time, and one still occupying a place on my bookshelf, was Making Monsters: False Memories, Psychotherapy, And Sexual Hysteria.

Dr. Ofshe’s lecture was held in one of the larger rooms on campus, but it was overflowing with attendees. The campus community was well-represented, but there seemed to be even more people there from the surrounding community. Clearly, someone had done an excellent job of publicizing the event. I listened eagerly to one of the most interesting presentations I had heard in some time.

Nothing could have prepared me for the hecklers. Person after person in the audience stood up and angrily yelled at Dr. Ofshe. Many identified themselves as therapists from the community, people who were still using some of the methods he was advising against. But the most heartbreaking part of the spectacle were those who were in therapy at the time or who had already been convinced by their therapists that they had been sexually abused. They screamed, they cried, and they called Dr. Ofshe every name in the book. How he remained so composed is beyond me.

Critics of recovered memory therapy and Satanic ritual abuse never claim that child sexual abuse is not real. It is very real, and part of the problem with the recovered memory stuff is that it ends up harming those who were really abused by convincing countless more who were never abused that they were abused. Scariest of all, the memories created in the process are indistinguishable from the real thing.

When I think of Dr. Ofshe and those like him who have had the courage to use science and skepticism to take on some of the “sacred cows” of the psychotherapy profession and a destructive moral panic, I am deeply grateful for their presence. They have saved many people from unimaginable harm, and they should be celebrated.

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Sadistic Jewish Rabbi Nechemya Weberman Convicted for Sexual Abuse | Jewish Cult Wages War Against Victims of Abuse

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in Jewish Child abuse, Jewish Child Sex Abuse, Jewish Pedophile, Jewish Pedophiles, Jewish Perverts, Jewish Rabbi, Jewish Sadism, Jewish Sadist, Jewish Sexual Abuse

Satmar Reportedly Launches All Out War Against Weberman Victim’s Family, Supporters, Media

Nechemya Weberman court 11-28-2012 closeup

Since Rabbi Nechemya Weberman was convicted on 59 counts of sexual abuse Monday, his supporters in Satmar have told customers to boycott the  victim’s parents’ businesses, pulled ads from Zev Brenner’s radio show  in retaliation for interviewing Weberman’s victim’s husband and the DA, attacked anti-child-sexual-abuse activist Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg and threatened to frame the victim’s husband.

Nechemya Weberman court 11-28-2012 closeup

Rabbi Nechemya Weberman

Satmar Reportedly Launches All Out War Against Weberman Victim’s Family, Supporters, Media

By Shmarya Rosenberg
It’s an all out dirty war.

The Daily News reports that since Rabbi Nechemya Weberman was convicted on 59 counts of sexual abuse Monday, his supporters in Satmar have told customers to boycott the victim’s parents’ businesses, pulled ads from Zev Brenner’s radio show in retaliation for interviewing Weberman’s victim’s husband and the DA, and spat on anti-child-sexual-abuse activist Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg.

“It’s getting serious,” a source in law enforcement reportedly told the News.

It sure is – even more serious than the Daily News reported.
According to the victim’s husband Boory, after the conviction Weberman’s family threatened to have girls falsely claim that Boory sexually assaulted them when they were minors.

Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg was attacked with bleach in Williamsburg the day after Weberman’s conviction.
One man, a hasid named Meilech Schnitzler, has been arrested in that attack, but police and the DA Charles Hynes insist the attack was not directly related to the Weberman verdict.

Rosenberg and his lawyer – Abe George, a potential candidate for Brooklyn DA – disagree. They also want Hynes to step aside and bring in another district attorney to prosecute the case. They believe Hynes won’t handle Rosenberg’s case fairly because of the years Rosenberg criticized Hynes’ inaction on and mishandling of haredi child sex abuse cases.

Even before the conviction, the victim’s family felt the sting of Satmar’s wrath.

At trial the victim testified that after she filed a criminal complaint against Weberman, her father’s business started losing clients, her nieces were kicked out of their Satmar school, and her husband’s restaurant’s kosher certificate was cancelled, forcing the restaurant to close.

After Weberman was found guilty, a text message was circulated in the Satmar community naming the victim’s mother and accusing her of “killing the Jewish Nation.”

“Please send around to at least 10 people. If you’re going to [name redacted] to make your face . . . you are a part of killing the Jewish Nation and five [Weberman] kids are home without a father,” the Daily News translation from Yiddish reads.

“The pressure — it’s unbelievable. I can’t take it anymore,” the victim’s mother told the Daily News.
The News also reports that what they identify as “sources close to the case” say that Weberman’s backers want to hire criminal defense attorney Alan Dershowitz to handle Weberman’s appeal.

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Jewish Synagogue Gabbai Raped Disabled Boy

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in Jewish Child abuse, Jewish Child Sex Abuse, Jewish Pedophiles, Jewish Perverts

Synagogue Gabbai Who Repeatedly Raped A 14-Year-Old Developmentally Disabled Boy Gets Light Sentence – Even Though He Fled The Country To Avoid Prosecution
Israeli FlagIn another example of Israel’s ethically challenged legal system, a synagogue gabbai who fled prosecution for the repeated rapes of a developmentally disabled child gets a short prison sentence on his return to Israel.
Yehezkiel Greenbaum, a 41-year-old Jerusalem synagogue gabbai, was convicted in a plea bargain today to charges of sodomy and indecent assault against a 14 -year-old boy with low mental function and personality disorders, Ynet’s Hebrew website reported.

Greenbaum fled the country in 2010 just before he was to slated to sign the agreement. When he recently returned to Israel, he was able to get some of the related charges dropped or altered, which reduced his sentence.

But Greenbaum also tried to claim that he had not forced the boys, a claim the judges rejected because of the boys’ mental states.

“The age gap and the close relations between the defendant and the complainant, as well as cognitive and emotional state [of the complainant], made the complainant easy prey for the defendant,” the judges said.

Greenbaum was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

The victim was so traumatized by the ongoing sexual abuse that he needed psychiatric hospitalization.

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Catholic Pervert Remains Papal Knight

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in CATHOLIC PEDOPHILES, Catholic Perverts, Catholic Predators, Catholic Sadists, Catholic Sex Abuse, Catholic Sex Crimes, Catholic Stooges, Christian Fascism

Child abuse suspect Savile still Vatican knight

This video from Britain is called Exposure – The Other Side of Jimmy Savile | 2012 | Full Documentary.

Via: -http://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/

From Associated Press:

Vatican says it cannot posthumously remove Jimmy Savile’s papal honor; condemns sexual abuse

Saturday, October 27, 6:24 PM

LONDON — The Vatican said Saturday it never would have given Jimmy Savile his papal knighthood had it known of allegations the British TV star was a child sex predator, but that it can’t rescind the honor now that he has died.

The Catholic Church of England wrote to the Holy See last week, asking it to consider whether it could posthumously remove the honor awarded to Savile because of the many recent child sex abuse allegations against him. Savile, a much-loved BBC children’s television host, died last year at age 84. …

Savile was made a Knight Commander of St. Gregory the Great by Pope John Paul II in 1990 for his charity work. He was also knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to charity and entertainment.

But police now believe Savile to be one of the most prolific sex offenders in Britain in recent history, with a “staggering number” of people reporting abuses by him after his death.

Some 300 potential victims have come forward with abuse allegations, police said. Most of them say they were abused by Savile, but some say they were abused by other people, Metropolitan Police said Friday.

See also here.

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Pastor Sodomizes Boy

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in Pastor Sodomizes Boy, Religious Kooks, Religious Lunatics, Religious Psychos, Religious Sadism, Religious Sadists, Religious Sex Abuse

Pastor Sodomizes Boy

Religious Sex Abuse

Clergy Sexual Abuse

Priests Sexual Abuse

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Numbers Reveal Catholic Predators Worst Sexual Abusers of All

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in Catholic Abuse, Catholic Baby Stealing, Catholic Child Abuse, Catholic Child Molestation, Catholic Child Rapists, Catholic Molestation, CATHOLIC PEDOPHILES, Catholic Perverts, Catholic Predators, Catholic Sadism, Catholic Sadists, Catholic Selling Babies for Money, Catholic Sex Abuse, Catholic Sex Crimes

Shocking figures reveal that Catholic clergy are the worst sexual predators
By Barry Duke

PATRICK Parkinson, a Sydney University law professor testifying at a state inquiry into sexual abuse, said today that Catholic clergy commit SIX TIMES as much abuse as those in the rest of the churches combined.

The Australian child protection expert added:

Prof Patrick Parkinson

And that’s a conservative figure.

Parkinson told the Parliamentary inquiry that the figures for the Catholic Church were strikingly out of proportion, and he proposed a 12-month amnesty from charges of perverting the course of justice if the Church opened all its files on offenders alive and dead. Those involved in cover-ups, however, would have to resign, he said.

Professor Parkinson, who chaired a review of child protection laws in New South Wales and twice reviewed the Church’s national Towards Healing abuse protocol, said he broke with the Catholic Church over its cover-up of his independent report on the Salesians of Don Bosco.

Speaking under parliamentary privilege, he said the order sent three priests overseas to avoid police questioning, then suppressed his report on their actions.

He told the committee an American child safety expert had labeled the order:

The Church’s most defiant and unrepentant group.

Professor Parkinson added:

The lies were breathtaking, and [former Australian head] Father [Frank] Moloney was absolutely at the centre of all the untruths.

Earlier, Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton set the inquiry’s opening day alight with more broadsides against the Catholic Church’s systemic obstruction of police inquiries over five decades.

He said police had statistics for sexual offences by clergy and church workers since January 1956, uncovering ”shocking” figures: 2,110 offences against 519 victims, overwhelmingly perpetrated by Catholic priests and mostly against boys aged 11 or 12. But in all that time the Church had not reported a single crime to police.

Savaging the church’s Melbourne Response protocol for dealing with complaints, Ashton said:

If a stranger were to enter a church and rape a child it would be immediately reported to police. But if the stranger were a member of the clergy, their special process would be wrapped around him. What is different about the clergy? It is the reputation of the church that creates the difference.

Hat tip: Tim Davies

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Catholic Predators | 700 Sex Cases Just In 2011

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in Catholic Abuse, Catholic Celibacy, Catholic Child Abuse, Catholic Hate Crimes, Catholic Predators, Catholic Sex Crimes

US priests accused in 700 sex cases in 2011: report

(AFP)–3 hours ago

WASHINGTON — About 700 people launched new claims of sexual abuse against Catholic clergy in the United States last year, including 21 who are still minors, according to a new report released by US bishops.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said in the report released Tuesday that of the 683 adults who reported allegations for the first time, “most allegations reported today are of incidents from previous decades.”

Sixty-eight percent of the complaints relate to events that took place between 1960 and 1984 — the majority from 1975 to 1979, the report says.

Many of the clergy members accused have since died, or been relieved of their church duties. More than 280 of them had been accused in the past, it said.

Of the 21 accusations made by minors, seven were considered credible by the police and three were determined to be false, the report said. Three other cases were still under investigation.

The Church spent $144 million dealing with the scandal in the United States in 2011 — including attorneys’ fees, settlements, and support for offenders — a decrease from $150 million in 2010.

The Roman Catholic Church has been rocked for several years now by a series of scandals involving allegations in pedophilia, including in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Germany and the United States.

The report is based on an audit of the Catholic dioceses in the United States by the StoneBridge Business Partners.

The audit has been undertaken every year since the Church was rocked by pedophilia claims in 2002, when the then archbishop of Boston admitted to sheltering a priest accused in multiple abuse cases.

“The Church must continue to be vigilant,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, the president of the bishops’ conference.

“The Church must do all she can never to let abuse happen again. And we must all continue to work with full resolve toward the healing and reconciliation of the victims/survivors.”

The publication of the report comes several weeks after the start of the first trial of an American bishop who sheltered pedophile priests.

Monsignor William Lynn, who was responsible for supervising more than 800 priests in Philadelphia, stands accused of failing to report allegations of sexual abuse and failing to keep two priests away from minors.

Lynn faces up to 14 years in prison.

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Bestiality Brothels On Rise In Germany

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in Animal Abuse, Animal Cruelty, Bestiality, PETA

brothels spur call for animal sex ban

http://www.thelocal.de/society/20120203-40531.html

 

Animal sex abuse is on the rise in Germany, with bestiality brothels being set up across the country, according to a state animal protection officer demanding stronger laws to protect mankind’s furry and feathered friends.

Madeleine Martin, the animal protection official for Hessian state government, said the law needed to be changed to make sex abuse of animals – known as zoophilia – a crime.

“It is punishable to distribute animal pornography, but the act itself is not,” she told the Frankfurter Rundschau daily paper on Friday.

“There are even animal brothels in Germany,” she said. Sex with animals was being increasingly seen as a lifestyle choice, and thus more acceptable.

“The abuse seems to be increasingly rapidly, and the internet offers an additional distribution platform,” she said.

She said the justice authorities had found it exceptionally difficult to convict a man from Hesse, who had offered pictures and instructions for animal sex abuse over the internet.

“Zoophilia must be completely banned in the reformed animal protection law,” said Martin, referring to the governments plan to rework that section of the law.

Sex with animals was banned until 1969, when the animal protection law was introduced, but failed to include a specific ban on zoophilia, the Frankfurter Rundschau said.

Martin said the current legal situation makes it too difficult for authorities to intervene – an animal has to be shown to have massive injuries before the animal protection laws prescribe action.

The Local/hc

What do you think? Leave your comment below.

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Rabbi Pedophile | Prominent Rabbi Indicted For Sexual Assault Of Minors

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in Jewish Pedophile, Jewish Sexual Abuse

Prominent Rabbi Indicted For Sexual Assault Of Minors

Rabbi Yaakov Deutsch

Rabbi Yaakov Deutsch, a prominent rabbi from the city of Afula in  northern Israel, was indicted on Sunday for committing sexual offenses  against four minors, two boys and two girls.

Rabbi Yaakov Deutsch

Rabbi Yaakov Deutsch

Prominent Israel rabbi indicted for sexually assaulting minors Rabbi Yaakov Deutsch allegedly committed sexual offenses against four minors, two boys, and two girls, from the city of Afula. By Eli Ashkenazi • Ha’aretz

Rabbi Yaakov Deutsch, a prominent rabbi from the city of Afula in northern Israel, was indicted on Sunday for committing sexual offenses against four minors, two boys and two girls.

According to the indictment, which was served by the northern district attorney’s office at Nazareth District Court, Deutsch, who has lived in Afula for forty years and has become an important local figure with a large following, abused his position to carry out a number of sexual offenses against minors.

The charges include unlawful sexual intercourse with consent, sodomy, and indecent assault of a fifteen year-old girl, indecent assault of a thirteen year-old girl, indecent assault of a thirteen year-old boy, and indecent assault of a fourteen year-old boy.

Rabbi Deutch’s lawyers argue that the complaints against the sixty-year-old rabbi are the result of behind-the-scenes activity. “We know that there are people who are going from house to house in the local community convincing children to complain against the rabbi,” they said.
“The complaints were not created in a vacuum,” they said.

The lawyers claim that the father of one of the alleged victims was caught stealing money collected for charity at the institution that Rabbi Deutsch heads, and that a number of other people who were fired from their jobs at the institution have been plotting against him.

The Rabbi’s lawyers have also passed police recordings of conversations in which they claim some of the alleged victims deny the abuse, and that a third party had pushed them into lodging their complaint.
The case was revealed a year ago, when Deutsch was detained by Afula police

[rabbi pedophile rabbi sex abuse Jewish sexaul abuse rabbi sexual assault]

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Alien Versus Predator

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in Catholic Child Abuse, Catholic Predators

Alien Vs Predator! Sure they’re both monsters, but one claims god is on his side!

Catholic Morality: FAIL!

Catholic Sexual Abuse.

Catholic Child Abuse.

Catholic Sadism.

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New Report Details Catholic Child Abuse In The Tens of Thousands – In Netherlands Alone!

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in Catholic Abuse, Catholic Child Abuse, Catholic Sex Crimes

New Report Documents Widespread Abuse in Dutch Catholic Institutions

The atheist blogosphere is understandably buzzing with news of Christopher Hitchens‘ death. Take whatever time you might need to deal with this loss, but please don’t overlook the other big news of the day: a new report detailing widespread child abuse by Catholic clergy and others associated with the church has been released by an independent commission in the Netherlands.

The report by the an independent commission said Catholic officials failed to tackle the widespread abuse “to prevent scandals.” The suspected number of abuse victims who spent some of their youth in church institutions likely lies somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000, according to a summary of the report.

The commission received roughly 1,800 complaints and identified 800 perpetrators, including clergy and lay people working with them.

Once again, I call on Catholics to stop supporting this institution.

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Catholic Sex Abuse Investigator Convicted of Child Porn

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in Catholic Child Rapists, CATHOLIC PEDOPHILES, Catholic Predators, Catholic Sex Abuse

Catholic Sex Abuse Investigator Convicted of Child Porn
// Priest sexual abuse
Just when I think the legacy of Catholic child molestation cannot get any worse, it somehow manages to do so. It seems that a child safety coordinator employed by the Catholic Church and tasked with investigating various child abuse allegations was convicted of child pornography.
According to the Daily Mail, Christopher Jarvis was responsible for investigating allegations of child sexual abuse over an area that included 120 churches. Jarvis was sentenced to 12 months for possessing over 4,000 pornographic images of children on the computer supplied to him by his employer, the Catholic Church.
I know what you’re thinking. Maybe he had been keeping the images as evidence in his investigations. I don’t think so. You see, what led to his arrest in the first place was that he had been uploading the images to a social networking website.

The revelations that the church hired a peadophile in a key child protection role will add to the controversy surrounding the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales over its handling of sexual abuse.

You think? The idea that the Catholic Church would hire someone to investigate the sexual abuse of children who turned out to be into child pornography is…well…I guess it is exactly what we should have expected.
H/T to Mojoey (Deep Thoughts) for bringing this one to my attention.

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ICC Urged to Probe Vatican for Sexual Abuse, Cover-Up

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in Catholic Crimes Against Humanity, Catholic Predators, Catholic Priests, Catholic Sadists, Catholic Sex Abuse, Criminal Popes, Papal Crimes, Pope, Religious Sadists, Sex Crimes, Sexual Abuse, Vatcan Sexual Abuse, Vatican, Vatican Crimes, Vatican Crimes Against Humanity

Via “Democracy Now”
ICC Urged to Probe Vatican for Sexual Abuse, Cover-Up

Two U.S. groups are asking the International Criminal Court to investigate Pope Benedict XVI and three top Vatican officials for crimes against humanity over the alleged cover-up of rampant sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy. In a new complaint, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests say the Vatican has “enjoyed absolute impunity” for failing to prevent and punish rape and sexual assault. The ICC filing is being described as the most comprehensive international effort to date to hold the Vatican accountable for sexual abuse.

See all headlines for this show

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Catholic diocese forced to deal with more allegations

by The Age of Blasphemy, posted in Catholic Molestation, Child Abuse

– January 13, 2011

The Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg is again being forced to respond to allegations of misconduct in its clerical ranks.

Thursday, a representative of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, held a news conference in front of the diocese’s headquarters to talk about a $75,000 settlement with an alleged victim of sexual abuse by a longtime priest. The group also spoke about alleged abuse by two other priests who are now dead. The three priests, the group said, all served at Christ the King Catholic Church in Tampa.

SNAP, which claims membership of more than 10,000 in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe, also addressed the ongoing controversy at the Cathedral School of St. Jude in St. Petersburg. Parents are upset about the way they say a priest handled the sacrament of confession with their children in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Diocese spokesman Frank Murphy confirmed a $75,000 settlement in July to man who claimed he was abused by Monsignor Norman Balthazar, who was working at Christ the King at the time of the abuse in 1980.

“We don’t know that anything did occur,” Murphy said.

“But yet they paid $75,000,” countered Martha Jean Lorenzo, the Tampa representative of SNAP, at the news conference.

“Given the cost of investigation and legal fees and you’re dealing with someone who wants to settle, it is easier to provide a settlement,” Murphy said.

Between 1996, when Bishop Robert N. Lynch took over the diocese, and 2006, the diocese paid out $2.8 million in settlements. Some of that was covered by insurance, Murphy said.

SNAP accused Lynch of keeping silent about allegations against Balthazar and the settlement. Murphy said that since the alleged abuse happened to an adult, not a child, the diocese did not have to make it public.

MORE: http://www.tampabay.com/news/religion/catholic-diocese-forced-to-deal-with-more-allegations/1145359

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