The Catholic priest was suspended from pastoral duties 2 months prior to his resignation and is the 4th North Coast priest accused of child molestation in the past 2 years. Source: San Francisco Chronicle 11/21/96
Kerri Lynn Patavino, a practicing Wiccan and former school-bus driver, was charged with 5 counts of 2nd-degree sexual assault, 6 counts of risk of injury to a minor and 3rd-degree burglary and 6th-degree larceny. Source: St. Petersburg Times 10/12/96
The Southeastern Bible College student reportedly fondled 2 boys, 14 and 17, whom he had befriended as a Sunday school teacher for the Christian Life Church in Hernando during a sleep-over at his parents' home in Nov. '95. Police were notified in January after Olson admitted to his pastor that he woke up with his hand on one of the boy's crotches. But Olson contends he didn't molest the boys and doesn't know how his hand got there.
Church members pleaded with the ruling judge for leniency with the first-time offender.
"Everyone in here knows he didn't do anything," said Nancy Johnson, who left the church after Olson was accused. "People in that church were jealous of him and that's why they made up lies to put him away."
Another supporter, a neighbor who often hired Olson to babysit his 4 children, told Judge Jack Springstead that the world needed more boys like John Olson.
"Somewhere out there is a dark side of John Olson which has surfaced these three times," Springstead said. "He has not shown any remorse and is in a state of denial. It's been my experience that people like John Olson will commit these crimes again if given the opportunity." Source: St. Petersburg Times 12/16/96
Molestation Suit Resurfaces. A civil lawsuit against Father Rocco D'Angelo and the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg has been refiled in Pinellas County.
The suit claims D'Angelo admitted in 1967 that he sexually abused minor boys for 2 years in S. Florida. He was given church counseling for several months before being transferred to the Tampa Bay area, where he served 3 different parishes until '93.
D'Angelo reportedly molested the plaintiff for 4 years when he was an altar boy at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Tampa. The victim is 1 of 4 former altar boys who voluntarily dropped lawsuits against the church in Hillsborough County earlier this year for strategic reasons.
The suit stated that D'Angelo had "a holy presence," and the boy "felt obligated to comply with his requests." Source: St. Petersburg Times 11/9/96
Connelly was indicted in February on 7 counts of child sex abuse charges for reportedly assaulting a boy over a 5-year period, beginning when the youth was 11. Source: Lexington Herald-Leader 11/26/96
According to police, the Protestant minister was videotaped by a store surveillance system exposing himself to several young girls. Tokar has been serving as a chaplain at the academy since early summer. Source: The Baltimore Sun 9/7/96
Following a 1990 trial, the victim was awarded $821,250 in compensatory damages and $2.7 million in punitive damages by a jury. The punitive damage award was later reduced to $187,000 by the trial judge. Since then, the 2 dioceses and their insurance companies (Interstate Fire and Casualty Co., and Lloyd's of London) have been battling in court over who must pay the damage award.
Senior Circuit Judge Donald Lay wrote in the Appeals Court panel decision: "The diocese knew of Adamson's sexual abuse of boys over 15 years. The diocese knew it was recurring. The diocese knew treatment was ineffective. The diocese knew Adamson could not control himself. The diocese knew that he had molested boys in each parish in which he served, yet allowed Adamson to be placed in the archdiocese in situations where he could continue to abuse."
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis reportedly agreed to take responsibility for 55% of any damages, with the remaining 45% assigned to the Diocese of Winona. Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune 8/1/96
The suits state that Grey systematically exploited, and sexually assaulted African-American and Hispanic men he supervised at the cathedral. Eight employees have stated that Grey used his authority to coerce the men into posing nude and then distributed the photos to others. The suits also claim that 3 diocesan officials were informed last December of the sexual harassment, but failed to take action. Source: Trenton Times 11/23/96
The 2 Brazilian men quoted by the magazine said at least 6 gay and bisexual cross-dressing priests staged orgies on the altar of the Brooklyn church.
Wasticlinio Barros, 23, said he agreed to "occasional sex in exchange for security," and that he had sex 4-7 times a week with Andries or "others" in churches, church offices, cars and vans. Andries reportedly gave Barros cocaine, prescription drugs and alcohol regularly.
In a written statement, Andries said the article "is a tissue of lies," and that he was resigning as rector "in order to spare the Episcopal Church additional trauma." Source: Washington Post 11/9/96; Reuters 11/4/96
Sexual Advances From Priest. Greek Orthodox priest Paul Ischie, 70, was charged in September with 3rd-degree sexual abuse for reportedly touching a man's genitals.
The victim, 24, told police that Ischie invited him to his apartment where the Church of Annunciation priest made unwanted sexual advances which promopted the younger man to flee. Source: Manhattan Spirit 9/6/96.
Bishop's Plea Spares Thief. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn's pension office manager Vincenza Bologna, 53, pleaded guilty to stealing more than $1 million in church funds has been spared prison after Bishop Thomas DeRosa pleaded for her mercy.
In a plea agreement, Bologna was sentenced in December to 5 years of probation.
"The hope is that this entire experience will help rehabilitate her," DeRosa said. Source: Omaha World-Herald 12/3/96
He was charged with felonious assault and failure to comply with an order of a law enforcement officer and is being held in lieu of a $500,000 cash bond or $1 million surety bond.
More than 400 rounds of ammunition, a hatchet, a blowgun, a booklet of police radio call frequencies, 2 throwing stars, 1 package of darts and 3 model rocket motors were found in the stolen car driven by Wharf.
Maywood Mission officials in Lancaster asked Wharf to leave in April because they felt he was "taking advantage of things." Wharf reportedly ate free meals at the mission, where he volunteered as a minister and used the phone to make unauthorized long-distance phone calls.
Wharf also faces felony charges of auto theft. The officer who arrested Wharf for the prior car theft said, "He was a nice boy, just your typical friendly kid who would smile and wave at you. But now he's very unemotional, and for a lack of a better word, seems like a brainwashed person." Source: Columbus Dispatch 11/17/96
Minister Charged With Food Stamp Trafficking. Toledo's modern-day Robin Hood was charged in November for the illegal purchase of food stamps.
Rev. Slim Lake, founder of the God's Church of the Streets, admitted he bought food stamps at discounted rates and exchanged them for food. He faces 15-40 years in prison for the offense.
For 7 years Lake has been serving up to 300 people at an urban park every Sunday for homeless, recovering alcoholic and addicts.
Some residents of a housing project near the park say the former drug dealer, crack addict, and street hustler brings in a "bad group of people." Source: The Hartford Courant 11/17/96
Holland, 36, reportedly assaulted the girl in the Sunday school room at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Leechburg. The girl testified that she was too frightened to scream for help or resist as Holland undressed her, and that he drove her home.
The State Supreme Court has ruled that saying "no" alone is not enough to support a rape charge; there must evidence of physical force. Source: Tribune-Democrat 10/25/96
Couple Corrupted Minors. An Abington couple were arrested in October when a police officer responding to a disturbance call found a drunk teen on the porch of David & Maryanne Miller's home. The boy, 13, said he and several friends came to the house for marijuana and beer.
The Boy Scout leader and his wife, both 31, pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and corruption of minors. Prosecutors say the Millers provided 6 boys and 1 girl with marijuana and alcohol on a regular basis, and that Maryanne reportedly had sex with 2 of the boys while her husband watched. The Millers each face 12-25 years in prison each and $35,000 in fines. Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer 10/23/96
Diocese Gets Molest Money Back. Blair County Judge Hiram G. Carpenter ruled in October that the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese can take back the $2.3 million it posted to guarantee payment of a jury award to a man who was molested by a priest.
Michael Hutchinson, of Ohio, was given a $1.8 million jury award in a '94 lawsuit against Altoona priest Francis Luddy. The priest reportedly molested the former altar boy 18 years ago at St. Therese.
A state Superior Court gutted the jury verdict in September citing the facts that Luddy is under bankruptcy court protection and the diocese has carried the brunt of the liability.
Hutchinson's attorneys have appealed the Superior Court ruling. Source: The Patriot-News 10/15/96
Priest's Prostitution Charge Refiled. Charges of prostitution, criminal attempt to corrupt the morals of a minor, and promoting prostitution were dismissed in mid-October against Monsignor Stephen Forish, the Diocese of Allentown's antiabortion coordinator.
Prosecutors have refiled charges against the Roman Catholic priest to dispel any doubt in the case. Forish, 51, was arrested Sept. 22 when a young man told police that Forish approached him on the street and asked him to perform oral sex for money. Source: The Patriot-News 11/5/96
Watson pleaded guilty in August to 10 counts of forgery and 4 counts of breach of trust with fraudulent intent and was originally sentenced to 6 years. Watson's son, Bradley, was convicted in July of forging checks on the church's account. Source: Desert Sun 8/12/96
Rev. Edmond Carmody, bishop of the Diocese of Tyler, issued a statement that the diocese had found no evidence of misconduct in its own investigation. Source: Valley Morning Star 10/20/96
Pond reportedly befriended the girl when she was 11, and took her weekly to the Trinity Broadcasting Network Station in West Valley City where he took photos of her wearing bikinis and lingerie.
According to police reports, Pond instructed the girl to record sexually explicit audiotapes and forced her to perform oral sex.
Pond was released on $20,000 bond and faces up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Sentencing is set for Feb. 3. Source: San Francisco Examiner 11/22/96; The Salt Lake Tribune 11/23/96
Pastor Accused Of Molestation. First Congregational Church pastor Rev. Owen Adolphus Barnes, 59, was charged with 2 counts of 1st-degree child molestation in November for incidents involving a young girl last summer in Barnes' home.
On 2 different occasions Barnes reportedly fondled the girl. The incidents were investigated when the girl told her mother. Source: News Tribune 11/23/96
LeCount apologized in a written statement to United Methodist pastor John Sumwalt, 45, of Wauwatosa, for the abuse.
"Nothing can begin to repay me for the pain I've endured," said Sumwalt. "But I'm glad to be coming to some closure." Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 10/23/96
God Cleanses Pervert? Waupun youth minister Rev. Kirk Ennenga, 32, was sentenced on Nov. 7 to 18 years in prison for sexually abusing 9 foster children.
Ennenga reportedly said, "God has used this (conviction) as a tool to cleanse me." Source: Milwaukee Journal 11/8/96
Clarke has been convicted of 17 other sex convictions against young boys since the late 80s. Recent charges stem from a massive Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation of sexual abuse at 14 church-run residential schools in British Columbia. Four Catholic clergy and officials have been convicted of sexually assaulting boys and girls, including: Bishop Hubert O'Connor, Father Harold McIntee and Brother Glen Doughty, all of St. Joseph's school near Williams Lake. Jerzy George Maczynski, Lower Post school supervisor was sentenced last December to 16 years in prison for 28 counts of sexual abuse. Source: Vancouver Sun 9/28/96; 10/4/96
Church Official Denied Bail. Roman Catholic Bishop Hubert O'Connor was denied bail and ordered to remain in custody during the appeal of his sex crime conviction.
O'Connor, 68, was sentenced in October to 30 months in prison for sexually assaulting 2 teenage girls in the 60s while he was principal of a residential school for American Indians in British Columbia. Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune 9/17/96
Priest's Deterrent Sexual Behavior. Rev. Mark MacNeil, 60, was sentenced to 30 months in prison in October on 7 counts of indecent assault against altar boys at the St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church in Westford between 1968-73.
The Ontario General Division court judge rejected the Crown's call for a 7-year sentence, noting that the priest sought help for his sexual problems in '90 and is currently serving as a chaplain for "infirmed or retired women" in Peterborough.
The judge quoted a victim in his decision as describing the abuse as having "invaded every part of my life." Source: Globe & Mail 10/11/96
Settlement For Mount Cashel Victim. Gerry Brinston and the Newfoundland government agreed to an out-of-court settlement on Dec. 2 for the years of abuse he suffered at the Mount Cashel orphanage.
Brintson reportely suffered years of abuse in the 70s by members of the Christian Brothers lay order which ran the orphanage. Nine brothers have been convicted of abuse-related crimes. Six others and a former employee were charged in November with 59 offenses that reportedly occurred between 1950-64.
Brinston's compensation package is confidential, but is reported to be less than half of the $35 million sought. Most of the 38 other victims seeking compensation have also agreed to the settlement offer.
Millions of dollars in Canadian property are untouchable because it belongs to the parent organization, the Christian Brothers of Ireland, which announced plans in November to liquidate $4.3 million in assests to help compensate abuse victims. Source: Vancouver Sun 12/3/96
Investigation Unfolds More Horrors. A 3-year investigation of sexual abuse at 14 of Canada's religiously-ran residential schools has uncovered more stories of abuse against native children. Multiple charges are pending against members of the Oblate Order and Grey Nuns who ran St. Anne's, an isolated school in a Cree community 600 miles north of Toronto, from 1904-73.
Ontario Provincial Police have uncovered evidence that hundreds of native students were abused. Some died at the school; their parents only found out about the deaths when the children did not return for summer holidays.
Students were reportedly subjected to severe physical abuse, forced masturbation, heterosexual and homosexual rape, lashings with wire whips, and electric shock torture. Source: Globe & Mail 10/21/96
Therapist Faces Rape Charges. Reform school therapist Dr. Robert Ross, 60, pleaded not guilty to 19 charges ranging from rape to breach of trust involving 6 former female inmates and a student volunteer at the Grandview Training School in Cambridge. Ross was the school's chief psychologist from '73 until the school closed in '76.
The University of Ottawa criminology professor is 1 of 6 former Grandview employees who together face 113 charges of abuse involving 37 former inmates.
One victim, who was a teenager at the time of the offenses, testified that Ross initiated sex with her during a therapy session in which he attempted to hypnotize her. Source: Southam Newspapers (Ottawa) 9/11/96
Teacher Abused Girls. Catholic School teacher Kenneth DeLuca, 48, pleaded guilty in April to more than a dozen charges of sexual assault and was sentenced to 40 months in prison for incidents involving just-pubescent female students at the Sault Ste. Marie's Roman Catholic schools.
Four civil lawsuits, which claim DeLuca sexually and emotionally abused schoolgirls for a span of 21 years, have followed the teacher's criminal conviction. The Ontario Ministry of Education said it would not call a public inquiry until the lawsuits are disposed of. Source: Globe & Mail 9/21/96
McLeish reportedly forced 4 boys, ages 10-18, to take part in degrading sexual acts, and then related the accounts of his conquests over the Internet to other pedophiles. Durham City detectives seized a library of computer discs containing more than 11,000 pornographic images from the St. Joseph's rectory in Gilesgate.
"The correspondence recovered from his computers showed he is a pedophile who was involved with an international pedophile ring over the Internet," said Newcastle prosecutor Beatrice Bolton.
Information obtained from computer files indicates as many as 37 people from France, the United States, Sweden, Hong Kong, Singapore, Holland, New Zealand and Germany formed a child pornography ring. Source: Chicago Sun-Times 11/13/96
Jean-Jacques Mazier was convicted for his part in the suicide of Scientology follower Patrice Vic.
Eight defendants with ties to the organization were acquitted, 14 were given suspended sentences on charges ranging from embezzlement to fraud. Source: Reuters 11/23/96
The case was made public when the 4 men accused one another of sexual impropriety on a television showdown. Stories of cross-dressing monks engaging in beauty contests and of homosexual orgies at the remote monastery were broadcast to thousands of viewers. Source: London Free Press (Ontario) 11/28/96