Secret court documents reveal that New York Cardinal Edward Egan allowed several priests facing multiple accusations of sexual abuse to continue working for years, while he served as bishop of the Bridgeport Roman Catholic Diocese. The documents show that Egan failed to investigate aggressively some abuse allegations, did not refer complaints to criminal authorities and, during closed testimony in 1999, suggested that a dozen people who made complaints of rape, molestation and beatings against the same priest may all have been lying.
(Hartford, Connecticut)
The Boston Archdiocese’s official newspaper said the Roman Catholic Church must face the question of whether to continue to require priests to be celibate. In the special issue on the priest sex abuse scandal, its lead editorial, The Pilot newspaper said the celibacy issue raises tough questions, such as whether there would be fewer scandals if celibacy were optional for priests. The issue of whether the priesthood attracts an unusually high number of homosexual men was also addressed in the editorial.
(Boston, Massachusetts)
Joseph DiGenova, a former top US attorney said, the city’s district attorneys should subpoena Catholic Church records of priests sexually preying on kids, or step aside and let less politically conflicted prosecutors do the job. He said, The local prosecutors are not doing their jobs…These elected prosecutors are afraid of these churches. The lack of public action by law enforcement authorities in these cases is disgraceful.
(New York)
Henry Pratts, a 40 year old Hartford man, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison and put on probation for 35 years under a plea agreement. He pleaded guilty to child molestation charges in January and admitted that he had sexually assaulted three underage girls over a 10-year period.
(Hartford, Connecticut)
Mayor Bloomberg called on Catholic Church officials to turn over the names of priests accused of molesting children to prosecutors. On Wednesday, the district attorneys of all boroughs except Manhattan said Catholic dioceses should notify them of allegations of sexual abuse by their priests so that they, not the church, can investigate. The mayor said, I don’t see any reason why anybody should withhold the names of anybody [who] is accused of committing a crime, they should turn them over. Earlier this week, the Archdiocese of New York said that
The bishop of the diocese of Rockville Centre is demanding that some priests who have been accused of molesting boys formally resign from the priesthood, in his first move against clergy sex abuse. While Bishop William F. Murphy declined to comment, his demand that they resign from the priesthood based on sexual abuse complaints is another indication that he is taking steps to address a problem that has attracted nationwide attention. Nassau District Attorney Denis Dillon said Murphy would turn over to him all past sex abuse complaints made to
« Previous Page — Next Page »
