Volume 5, Issue 18
March 13, 2007
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The Child Protection eNewsletter CNN Anchor tells of sexual abuse by Catholic priest… Thomas Roberts has been a CNN Headline News anchor since 2001. In this story, he discusses being sexually abused by a Catholic priest as a teenager. Read More Here This is his story in his own words.“I became a victim of sexual abuse at the age of 14; the abuse lasted three years. It took me nearly 20 years to gather the strength to help put my abuser behind bars. Now, a year after "justice" was done, I am ready to tell my story publicly in ways I never have before.” “My abuser was Father Jeff Toohey, a trusted man of God. He was the equivalent of a religious celebrity in my private all-boys Catholic school in Baltimore, Maryland. Father Jeff was every boy's friend and mentor. I considered him my mentor as well.” “When my parents divorced, I was sent to Father Jeff to help me cope with all the changes. Divorce in the mid-1980s still seemed so foreign. Plus, I was just a kid, and I didn't know much about divorce. I just knew it sucked.” “All I had at that time in my life was my family and school. Those were my constants. But as my family fell apart, so did my life at school. After the abuse began, high school became a prison of shame and lies. I felt trapped. My parents would be horrified to know their failure at marriage put their son at risk to be sexually abused and that the man abusing me was the high school chaplain and beloved priest.” “The school would never believe me, I thought, and I feared I would be expelled if I revealed the abuse. I was 14, with no voice, except the one in my head saying, "You can never tell the truth about what is happening."” “Roughly a month after the abuse started, I attempted to commit suicide. I took a bottle of my mother's pills. I lined them up one-by-one on my maple dresser. I took them all and lay on my bed hoping to just fade away and die. My sister, Patsy, came home and found me. It was the day before her 18th birthday. She saved my life that day just by merely coming to my room to say, "Hi." She saw the pill bottle and went to get ipecac, which made me throw up.” “My parents were terribly upset by my actions. Father Jeff was told I tried to kill myself. All agreed I just needed more counseling. Father Jeff's exact words were, "You have so much to live for." I felt so cornered, and I had nowhere to go and no one to run to. I just became numb to the abuse.” “When I was in college, another boy, Michael Goles, came forward and reported his abuse at the hands of Father Jeff. I knew I could help Michael if I, too, revealed Father Jeff's abuse, but out of a feeling of self-preservation, I remained quiet. Michael wasn't believed, and his case was thrown out of court. Nearly 20 years after the abuse started, I became strong enough to go back and confront what had happened to me. I was strong enough to tell my family the truth. I was strong enough to report it to the archdiocese. And I was strong enough to call Michael Goles and tell him, "I am sorry," and that I believe him because it happened to me, too.” “Together, we were strong enough to see our abuser finally admit his crimes. Father Jeff was charged with 10 criminal counts of child sexual abuse in relation to my case. He asked for a plea and admitted his guilt in court. He was sentenced to five years in jail but only served 10 months. He was released early to serve eight months in home detention.” Meanwhile, a judge ordered an investigation into whether there are unreported cases of sexual abuse involving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston. Read More Here Circuit Judge Diane Schafer Goodstein said she would not approve a plan to set aside up to $12 million to settle abuse claims without the review. Goodstein made her decision after an attorney for abuse victims claimed the church may have kept some cases secret. If you or someone you love needs help dealing with pain of clergy abuse, please visit http://www.snapnetwork.org Texas AG office didn't pursue abuse case… A state assistant attorney general received a report a year ago that graphically detailed the sexual abuse of inmates at a youth prison but declined to pursue the case because of jurisdictional concerns, according to e-mails obtained by Associated Press. Read More Here Attorney General spokesman Jerry Strickland said the lawyer, Will Tatum, should have forwarded the report to his supervisors before responding to the February 2006 e-mail, but he didn't follow agency procedures. The abuse allegations at the West Texas State School in Pyote are at the center of a widening scandal at the Texas Youth Commission. vol5_iss17 State leaders dispatched law enforcement officials this week to the commission's headquarters and all 22 of its youth facilities, including the school, after learning that TYC officials knew about abuse claims for months but did nothing. Texas Ranger Brian Burzynski, who sent the e-mail, told lawmakers this week that he had pursued the case since 2005 but could not get federal, state or local officials to prosecute. State Attorney General Greg Abbott has since opened an investigation. Meanwhile, Youth Commission officials shocked by allegations that a former assistant superintendent was having sex with incarcerated teenaged boys might have had an early clue: The accused official was living with a 16-year-old boy on school grounds. Read More Here Confidential investigation reports obtained by the Austin American-Statesman reveal the teenager was found to be living with Ray Brookins, then 39, when his state-owned house was searched for evidence in February, 2005 by a Texas Ranger. Virginia aims comic book on statutory rape at young Latinas…  It starts out like most fotonovelas, Latino comic books with themes often centered on love and betrayal: Teenage "Yaneth" is at a picnic when she spots handsome, raven-haired "David." She nabs his number and afterward, playfully sends him a text message. Read More Here A few pages later, Yaneth isn't smiling. She's in a car alone with David, who's actually a man in his late 20s. He's demanding sex and the 14-year-old is scared.The Virginia Department of Health hopes readers will want to find out what happens next to Yaneth, and to many real life Latina teens like her. They've spent two years developing the comic book to combat statutory rape among Hispanic girls — put at higher risk, some say, by limited understanding of American laws and cultural mores condoning May-December relationships. In other news… A man accused at a congressional hearing of molesting a teenage boy has been convicted of charges including enticing a child to engage in sexually abusive activity. Read More Here Ken Gourlay was convicted following a weeklong trial and more than three hours of jury deliberations. He faces up to 20 years in state prison when sentenced May 2 by Circuit Court Judge Archie Brown. Gourlay, 29, was accused of sexually assaulting Justin Berry and using him to produce and distribute child pornography over the Internet. vol5_iss17 A woman accused of disguising herself in scrubs and snatching a newborn from a Texas hospital was in custody in New Mexico Monday, while the tiny girl was back in her mother's arms, police said. Read More Here Police found 4-day-old Mychael Darthard-Dawodu on Sunday in Clovis, New Mexico, a day after she was taken from Lubbock's Covenant Lakeside Hospital, about 100 miles to the southeast. An accused child molester cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet, then took a limousine to Chicago to appear on "The Jerry Springer Show," authorities said. Read More Here A judge set bail at $50,000 for Mario Sims, 21, who had been awaiting trial on 2004 charges of child enticement and first-degree sexual assault of a child. Sims appeared on an episode of the show that aired last fall. A TV.com Web site teaser for it said: "Outrageous nuptials! Returning guest Mario is a proud father and is ready to marry his baby's mother - who's also his half-sister." A Boone County, Illinois judge gave a man accused of sexually assaulting three children permission to visit Walt Disney World, then reversed his decision, according to published reports. Read More Here Frank D. Atherton, 46, got court approval last month to visit Florida on a two-week vacation. When he provided the court clerk with his specific itinerary earlier this week, Associate Judge R. Craig Sahlstrom authorized Atherton to spend three days of his trip at the theme park, according to a story in Thursday's edition of the Chicago Sun-Times. A federal grand jury indicted the leader of a polygamous sect, accusing him of fleeing to avoid prosecution on Utah sex charges. Read More Here The one-count indictment covers a five-month period in 2006, although Warren Jeffs was believed to be on the run for a longer stretch before his arrest in August during a traffic stop near Las Vegas. Jeffs also faces trial in southern Utah in April on charges of rape as an accomplice for his alleged role in the ceremonial marriage of a teenage girl to an older cousin. In Arizona he faces felony sex charges in Mohave County for his alleged role in arranging underage marriages for some of his followers. *for access to member only sites like the New York Times, use the ID "JohnDoeID" and the password "whatever". On sites asking for an email address, feel free to use "info@childprotectionprogram.org" Unsubscribe |
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