The Child Protection eNewsletter

Michigan bishop abused by priest…
Breaking ranks with his peers, a Roman Catholic bishop called yesterday for state legislatures to temporarily remove the time limits that have prevented many victims of sex abuse from suing the church. http://www.washingtonpost.com In making that extraordinary appeal, Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit also unburdened himself of a secret. As a teenager 60 years ago, he said, he was "inappropriately touched" by a priest. Gumbleton, 75, revealed Wednesday that he had been sexually molested by a priest when he was a teenager attending Detroit Sacred Heart Seminary's onetime high school for boys. http://www.freep.com He is the first U.S. bishop to disclose that he was a victim of clergy sexual abuse. He is also the first to endorse proposals in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and other states vol3_iss65 to follow California's example and open a one-year window for victims to file lawsuits over sexual abuse, no matter how long ago it took place.

A high-ranking Vatican official was deposed for seven hours Monday about how the Portland diocese handled priest sex abuse allegations during his tenure there. http://hosted.ap.org Former Archbishop William Levada was served with a subpoena before he left for Rome last summer to take over as prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - the position formerly held by Pope Benedict XVI. It is the highest Vatican post ever held by an American.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is close to a settlement with 45 people who claim they were abused by priests, the Los Angeles Times reports. http://www.latimes.com The newspaper, citing sources close to the case, said the victims would get an average of more than $1 million each. http://www.sciencedaily.com The archdiocese faces 560 lawsuits. If the 45 cases are settled, that would give some indication that the church could face settlements totaling around $1 billion, the newspaper said. Even settling a fraction of those cases for similar amounts, the Los Angeles case would be the third-largest against a Catholic diocese.

In other pedophile priest scandal news, the Covington (KY) diocese is reportedly close to an $85 million settlement with abuse victims. http://hosted.ap.org

A jury was seated Tuesday for the murder trial of an inmate in the jailhouse strangling of John Geoghan, the child-molesting priest at the center of the sex abuse scandal in the Boston Archdiocese. http://hosted.ap.org

As we make an effort to remind you from time-to-time, the clergy abuse scandal is not a uniquely Catholic problem. A Syracuse, NY pastor accused of raping a teenager in his congregation will remain in jail while authorities work out his return to Connecticut where he faces similar allegations. http://www.courttv.com

States Lack Ability to Track Caseworker Visits with Children in Foster Care …
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued two reports on January 5 examining states' ability to track the frequency of caseworker visits to children in foster care. http://www.cwla.org The report indicated that 43 states had written standards calling for caseworkers to visit children in foster care at least monthly. The OIG also concluded that only 20 states of the 51 reviewed demonstrated their ability to actually produce statewide reports. Of these 20, seven states indicated that, on average, fewer than half of children in foster care were visited monthly.

The Christian Science Monitor ran an article on aftercare services for teens “aging out” of foster care. http://www.csmonitor.com

In other news…
Andrea Yates vol3_iss6 and vol3_iss2 pleaded innocent by reason of insanity in the drowning deaths of her children Monday as she made her first court appearance since her 2002 capital murder convictions were overturned. http://www.msnbc.msn.com

Two U.K. babysitters have been jailed for raping a 12-week-old baby girl and taking pictures of the abuse. http://news.bbc.co.uk

The Oklahoman ran an interesting case study of a two-year-old girl who was killed after Department of Human Services personnel returned her to her mother. http://www.newsok.com and http://newsok.com

A former California English teacher was sentenced to six years in prison for molesting two of her middle school students and one of their friends. http://hosted.ap.org The boys were between 11 and 13 years of age.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress has issued its report on whether or not requiring a mandatory separate domain for internet pornography would be constitutional. http://opencrs.cdt.org The report concludes that it is unclear whether or not the court would view it as Constitutional, depending on “whether a court viewed it as a content-based restriction on speech or as analogous to the zoning of adult theaters.” We never would have guessed.



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