Police: Girl raped, then relocated After being raped and impregnated by a fellow churchgoer more than twice her age, a 15-year-old Concord girl was forced by Trinity Baptist Church leaders to stand before the congregation to apologize before they helped whisk her out of state, according to the police. While her pastor, Chuck Phelps, reported [...]

Bishop: 100 cases in 10 yrs for Italy priest abuse ROME — Italy’s bishops’ conference provided the first ever statistics of clerical sex abuse in the country Tuesday, saying there had been about 100 cases over the past 10 years that warranted church trials or other canonical procedures. Monsignor Mariano Crociata, the No. 2 official [...]

Priest accused of having ‘erotic dungeon’ surrenders A Polish-born priest accused of sexually abusing minors in his parochial residence in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has turned himself in, state officials said Saturday.State security officials said Marcin Michal Strachanowski, 44, surrendered to authorities Friday night in the village of Realengo. State Civil Police [...]

Former Baptist pastor gets 10 years for molestation FRANKLIN, Ind. (ABP) — A former Southern Baptist pastor in central Indiana has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for molesting a 15-year-old church member in a relationship that began with him counseling the girl because she was not getting along with her mother. Daniel Moore, [...]

I can dream, can’t I? Richard Dawkins: I will arrest Pope Benedict XVI RICHARD DAWKINS, the atheist campaigner, is planning a legal ambush to have the Pope arrested during his state visit to Britain “for crimes against humanity”. Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the atheist author, have asked human rights lawyers to produce a case for [...]

Measure on illegal abortions heads to governor The Utah Senate has joined the House in allowing homicide charges against expectant mothers who arrange illegal abortions. The bill responds to a case in which a Vernal woman allegedly paid a man $150 to beat her and cause miscarriage but could not be charged. The Senate on [...]

Wilmington diocese files for bankruptcy on eve of sex-abuse trials WILMINGTON – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington filed for bankruptcy protection just hours before eight clergy sex-abuse trials were set to begin yesterday – the first wave in dozens of cases against its priests that, by diocesan estimates, could cost it $100 million to [...]

N.S. Bishop Wanted On Child Porn Charges Ottawa police have issued an arrest warrant for a Roman Catholic bishop from Nova Scotia facing child pornography charges. Raymond Lahey, a native of Newfoundland who was with the Antigonish diocese until his sudden resignation on Saturday, currently can’t be found, Ottawa police Const. Jean-Paul Vincelette said Wednesday. [...]

Sex abuse victim told to ‘go to hell’ MELBOURNE Catholic Archbishop Denis Hart told a woman who had been sexually abused by a priest to “go to hell, bitch” in conduct labelled appalling by a Victorian magistrate. Archbishop Hart later apologised to the woman in the Melbourne Magistrates Court for what magistrate Anne Goldsborough described [...]

Argentine Priest Convicted of Sexually Abusing Boy A Roman Catholic priest who won fame running an Argentine foundation for poor youths was convicted Wednesday of sexually molesting a boy who participated in the program. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. A three-judge panel found Father Julio Grassi guilty of one count of sexual [...]