Church Abuse Scandals

LeRoy Valentine: Decades After First Alleged Child Sex Abuse, St. Louis Priest Removed

Another day, another dispute with the St. Louis Archdiocese regarding allegations of child sex abuse. The case of Father LeRoy Valentine, however, involves a long and complicated history of accusations that span several decades and allegations of repeated inaction by those in charge. And victims' ad ... More >>

Parents Sue St. Louis Archdiocese, Father Bryan Kuchar Over Son's Alleged Rape, Suicide

A local couple is suing the St. Louis Archdiocese and Father Bryan Kuchar in a lawsuit alleging that their son was raped by the priest when he was a young boy and, once the "abuse finally overtook him," killed himself. "It has been almost four years since his death, and we struggle with the part t ... More >>

Pope Francis I: Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests Say He's Not One of "Dirty Dozen"

Yesterday afternoon, the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel in Rome billowed white smoke, and the new pope emerged on the balcony in white robes: Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires. His papal name will be Francis I. David Clohessy, the executive director of Survivors Network of T ... More >>

David Clohessy and SNAP: Ten Years After Gaining Celebrity

Ten year's ago this month David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), was named one of the world's "25 Most Intriguing" by People magazine. Included in that 2002 class were actors and performers such as George Clooney and Britney Spears, world leaders the l ... More >>

Joshua Witkowski, Age 19: A Serial Sexual-Assailant?

On Tuesday, all the big news outlets in town reported that nineteen-year-old Joshua Witkowski of Winchester has been charged with sexually assaulting a fourteen-year-old girl in a wooded area of a park in Manchester.Since then, the Manchester police say, they've received more than a dozen calls from ... More >>

Charles Manning: Ex-Priest Charged with Sexual Assault on Child, Back Living in St. Louis

A priest who served in four different Missouri parishes has just been formally charged with sexual abuse of a minor in a Colorado courtroom. The details of Charles Robert Manning's alleged crimes are under seal, but an investigation began after one 15-year-old boy complained that Manning was behavi ... More >>

SNAP Releases Transcript of Church Lawyers Grilling Director David Clohessy

​On January 2, David Clohessy -- director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) -- sat down with lawyers representing Catholic priests. It was not to chat over tea.The attorneys deposed Clohessy for over six hours as part of a lawsuit that a anonymous victim has brought agains ... More >>

Is SNAP's David Clohessy Really a Hypocrite?

SNAP's David Clohessy​Recently in both Kansas City and St. Louis, lawyers defending the Catholic Church against clerical sex abuse allegations have have tried to subpoena years worth of emails and records from their long-time adversary, SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). SNAP dir ... More >>

Joseph Ross: Former St. Cronan's Priest Accused of Molesting Parishioner

bishopaccountability.orgJoseph Ross left St. Cronan's in 2002.​Updated 4:15 p.m. with comment from the Archdiocese of St. Louis. A lawsuit filed today paints a disturbing picture of abuse within a St. Louis Catholic Church. According to the complaint filed in St. Louis Circuit Court, Father Joseph ... More >>

Rush Limbaugh and Ashton Kutcher have their defenders, the archdiocese does not

Jason Berry: Author and Expert on Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal in St. Louis Tuesday

jasonberryauthor.com​Perhaps no other journalist in the world has devoted as much time or penned as many words covering the Catholic Church and its sex abuse scandals as Jason Berry. The New Orleans' journalist has written three books on the subject with his latest (released just last week) Render ... More >>

Archdiocese Not Liable For Pedophile Priest Robert Johnston

courtesy of SNAP MidwestRobert Johnston: not the archdiocese's fault that they hired a perv.​Score one for the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis. Because, as a legal ruling today makes clear, even if a Christian ethicist would hold the church accountable for allowing a predatory priest to run roug ... More >>

SNAP Blasts Report Blaming Priest Sex Abuse On 1960s Culture

The '60s made them do it!​The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has responded to the controversial study released yesterday exploring the cause of the sex abuse crisis inside the U.S. Catholic Church. Commissioned by the church, the 300-page study by researchers at John Jay Colle ... More >>

Donald McGuire: Abusive Priest Had Local Connection "Examining" Boy in St. Charles

Fr. Donald McGuire​A civil suit filed last week in Chicago captured headlines across the nation and brought up more allegations of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, including an incident occurring in Missouri in 1999. Eighty-year-old Father Donald McGuire, a popular camp director and former ... More >>

Court Upholds $5 Million Sex Abuse Judgment Vs. Belleville Diocese

​An Illinois appellate court has upheld the ruling of a 2008 St. Clair County jury that awarded a man $5 million in a lawsuit versus the Belleville Diocese. The 2008 trial alleged that Rev. Raymond Kownacki sexually molested James Wisniewski of Champaign when Wisniewski served as an altar boy in t ... More >>

Ed Martin: Site Suggests He Knew About Pedophile Priests but Did Nothing

threaledmartin.com Click here to watch the site's video.​Heard about therealedmartin.com?It's a website that argues -- albeit indirectly, and with loads of documents -- that GOP congressional candidate Ed Martin, while employed at the Archdiocese of St. Louis, was in a position to have inti ... More >>

Clergy Sex Abuse Victim Didn't Know His Video Interview Involved Ed Martin

therealedmartin.com Click here to watch the site's video.So you've seen therealedmartin.com, the website implying that congressional candidate Ed Martin knew about "pedophile priests" being shuffled around from parish to parish, but failed to do anything about it. But how did this website com ... More >>

[UPDATE] Bro. William Mueller: Ordered to Pay $500,000 for Sexual Assault of Vianney Student in 1980s

Bro. William Mueller in a 1971 photo.​Updated 1:50 p.m. with court documents and detailed account of the sexual assault.A former teacher at Vianney High School, Brother William Mueller, has been ordered to pay one of his former students $500,000 in a case alleging sexual assault. According to the ... More >>

St. Louis Female Priest Responds to Vatican Equating Women Reverends with Pedophiles

Photo: Jennifer SilverbergThe Revs. Elsie McGrath and Rose Marie Hudson​By now you've probably heard how the Vatican unveiled sweeping changes last week regarding its policies on sexual abuse and sexuality within the Catholic church. On one hand, the Church increased efforts to out priests accused ... More >>

Whatever happened at Father Cooper's cabin in 1971, the archdiocese isn't responsible

Archbishop of New York Faces Scrutiny for Handling of Sex Abuse Case in St. Louis

Archbishop Dolan​Timothy Dolan was a bishop in St. Louis in the early 2000s before being named archbishop of Milwaukee and from there moving on to serve as the current archbishop of New York. A year into his tenure in the Big Apple the archbishop has been generaly well-received, though questions p ... More >>

SNAP Protests SLU's Commencement Speaker; Vatican Rep Allegedly Called Sex Victim "Idiot"

Pietro Sambi, that's Italian for "Don't $&#@ with Me!"​The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is holding a demonstration right this very minute on the corner of Lindell and Grand, just outside Saint Louis University. The group is upset that SLU has invited the Vatican's U.S. A ... More >>

Daniel O'Connell, Former SLU President, Accused of Violating Sex Abuse Contract

Image ViaO'Connell teaching a class at Georgetown in 2007.​Father Daniel O'Connell, who headed Saint Louis University from 1974-1978, is facing the threat of a lawsuit from a New York woman who claims the priest sexually abused her decades ago. According to the Survivor's Network of those Abused b ... More >>

'Holy Goalie' Becomes New Springfield Bishop

Saving goals souls one at a time.​The Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, will soon welcome a new bishop to their flock. Pope Benedict XVI appointed Thomas J. Paprocki to the position yesterday.Paprocki is interesting for several reasons. Fist of all, he is an avid hockey fan and sometimes ... More >>