Traditional Christian Family Values

PEDOPHILE former priest John Sidney Denham pleaded guilty to a range of child sex offences yesterday and will begin sentence proceedings in Newcastle District Court later this month.

Denham, 66, appeared in Newcastle Local Court yesterday via audio-visual link from Silverwater jail where he has remained since his arrest last August.

He was committed for sentence on 29 charges including indecent assaults and sexual assaults, most of which were committed in the Hunter Region in the 1970s and 1980s. More than 20 other charges will be taken into account when he is sentenced.

The charges relate to 39 victims.

Denham arrived at the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese Mayfield parish in 1972 to take on the role of deacon, a statement tendered to the court said.

He was moved to Singleton in 1973 and became a teacher at St Pius X High School, Adamstown, from 1975 to 1980 when he was moved to Charlestown, then Taree in 1981 and to Waverley College in Sydney where he taught until 1994.

He was then ordered by the church to not have contact with children and was given a job as a librarian at a resource centre in Sydney until his arrest.

The diocese issued an apology yesterday from Bishop Michael Malone and director of schools Ray Collins.

“The Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle acknowledges all victims of abuse by church personnel and at this time we particularly acknowledge those people who have been directly or indirectly affected by the abuse of John Denham,” the statement said.

“The actions of John Denham and the abuse that many young boys endured have now been partly acknowledged through the court system. We too acknowledge the distress and lifelong impact of these actions on all those affected.

“We offer our most sincere and heartfelt apologies for all instances of abuse perpetrated by John Denham and we express our deep sadness for the pain that resulted and continues to be felt.

“We acknowledge the courage of those who spoke with the police so that justice might be achieved and invite anyone who has been affected by this matter to contact Zimmerman House, the diocesan support service for those affected by abuse by church personnel.”

story here.

The pastor of a Roman Catholic parish in Louisville has been placed on leave after a man alleged that the priest sexually abused him in 1985.

The Rev. James R. Schook was pastor of St. Ignatius Martyr Church on Rangeland Road.

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz announced Schook’s leave at Sunday Mass at St. Ignatius and by letter to parishioners. The Record, the Catholic newspaper, also listed Schook’s previous parish assignments and asked that any alleged victims of abuse from those parishes contact the archdiocese.

The archdiocese said it referred the matter to the Commonwealth’s Attorney.

Steve Tedder, spokesman for Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Stengel, said he couldn’t comment on whether someone was being investigated unless a grand jury made a decision on a case.

Brian Reynolds, chancellor and chief administrative officer for the archdiocese, said Schook will be prohibited from public ministry while the archdiocese investigates, which would take at least several weeks.

The Rev. Martin Linebach will temporarily lead the parish.

Reynolds said Schook was serving at two parishes in 1985 but that the allegation did not involve his parish work.

Schook, who was ordained in 1975, previously worked at St. Thomas More, St. Raphael, Ascension, St. Lawrence, St. Polycarp and Our Lady of Consolation parishes in Louisville. St. Polycarp and Our Lady are now part of St. Peter the Apostle.

He also worked in the Catholic Deaf Community Ministry, St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi Church in Payneville, Ky., and St. Theresa Church in Rhodelia, Ky., according to the archdiocese.

“As always, this is very painful for someone to tell the story,” Reynolds said of the alleged abuse victim. “It was hard for him to do this.”

No other allegations have been brought against Schook, Reynolds said.

The Archdiocese of Louisville was especially hard hit by the sexual-abuse scandal that exploded worldwide in 2002 and 2003.

The archdiocese paid nearly $30 million in settlements and other costs after more than 250 people brought claims either in court or directly to church officials. In all, more than three dozen priests and other church workers, living and dead, were accused of abusing children as far back as the late 1940s.

Five current or former priests were convicted of abuse, as were two former Catholic schoolteachers.

“This thing is not over,” said Shannon Whelan, of the local chapter of Voice of the Faithful, a group of lay Catholics that organized following the scandal to press for church reforms.

“I am extremely grateful that the diocese is taking positive action, and they are being more transparent,” she said. “That’s a good indication that we can move through this.”

“But we still have not seen nationally anything that suggests that the bishops that were really the foundation behind the problem, that anything has occurred to them,” she added. “We had some sick priests.”

original story here.

A Lowcountry pastor is facing charges that he exposed himself to a 5 year old girl.  Pastor Marion Leon Kosier Jr. is the pastor at Harleyville Christian Church.

According to the police report, the girl told her parents that about a year to a year and a half ago, Kosier exposed himself to the child in her bedroom.  She lives in Summerville.

Kosier has already been convicted of 3 other cases of exposing and/or abusing a child in the past.

Kosier is out of jail after posting $35K bond.

original story here.

A St. Cloud man whom police say is a retired Lutheran minister was charged Friday with sexually abusing a girl over about eight years.

Arthur James Ree, 82, faces six counts of felony criminal sexual conduct in Stearns County District Court.

The abuse took place repeatedly in Ree’s home between 1998 and 2006 but was not reported until this week, according to the criminal complaint.

Ree is a retired minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and a former volunteer chaplain with the St. Cloud Police Department, who served from 1997 until 2005, police said.

The allegations are not connected with Ree’s role as either a pastor or a police chaplain, said police and ELCA Bishop Jon Anderson.

original story here.

More charges have been filed against a local Roman Catholic Priest. Published reports say Monsignor Robert Borne, who was in court yesterday (Tuesday July 14th), is being charged with two more counts each of gross indecency, indecent assault and breach of trust, in connection with allegations he sexually assaulted two teenage boys between 1977 and 1995. That’s on top of the six similar charges laid agaisnt him in April in relation to allegations involving three teenage boys. The Monsignor was arrested after he turned himself into police on June 5th, and that’s when the new investigations began according to police. Borne was once the parish priest at St. James Church in Eganville and a pastor for a mission church in Golden Lake called the Nativity of Mary.

original story here.

SANTA ANA — A retired priest with a history of abuse allegations is behind bars today on new charges that he molested a young boy in the rectory and sacristy of a Costa Mesa church in the 1990s.

Denis Lyons, 75, of Seal Beach is being held on $100,000 bail at Orange County Jail and is expected to be arraigned today on charges of molesting the victim when he was in second and third grade from January 1992 and December 1995 at St. John the Baptist Catholic School, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s office.

Lyons assaulted the boy four times in the school’s adjoining church, prosecutors said.

Lyons – who was removed from ministry in 2002 — was taken into custody while playing cards at a community center near his Seal Beach home Monday, prosecutors said.

He has been charged with four felony counts of lewd conduct with a child younger than 14, along with a sentencing enhancement of committing substantial sexual conduct. If convicted of the charges, Lyons faces 14 years in prison.

Lyons has been criminally charged with molestation in the past.

In 2003, he was charged with molesting another male youth between 1978 and 1981 at St. John the Baptist. Prosecutors also accused him of assaulting two other male victims to corroborate that case.

But those charges had to be dismissed because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that invalidated prosecutions of some older sex crimes.

“Our community has waited a long time for justice as to this defendant,” said Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas at a news conference this morning.

Lyons, who now resides in the retirement community of Leisure World in Seal Beach, was pastor at St. John’s when, in 1993, he admitted to inappropriate behavior with two adults in 1979.

The Diocese of Orange placed him into counseling, but then placed on administrative leave from the diocese in 2002 – when he was assigned to St. Edward Church in Dana Point. He was removed from ministry that year.

The priest has been a financial liability to diocese, which has paid out more than $4 million in settlements of sex-abuse claims since 2001.

The most recent settlement came in February, when the diocese settled a lawsuit brought by Jonathan Kirrer, 24, of Fountain Valley for an undisclosed amount.

Kirrer, a student at St. John the Baptist, alleged he was abused in 1994 and 1995. Kirrer claimed that Lyons abused him four times – twice in the parish rectory and twice in the church’s sacristy.

He reported the abuse to Costa Mesa police soon after filing the lawsuit in March 2008. Lyons denied the allegations.

Prosecutors and Kirrer’s lawyer, V. James DeSimone would not comment on whether Kirrer was the victim in this case. Typically, alleged victims in criminal cases remain anonymous unless they otherwise choose to identify themselves.

DeSimone commended prosecutors for bringing charges against Lyons, and also criticized the diocese for not removing Lyons from ministry sooner.

“There are many victims who have brought forth allegations against Father Lyons,” DeSimone said.

He mentioned the case of Karl Romahn, a former Navy Seal who accused Lyons of molesting him and his brother in 1979.

Romahn came forward in 1994 and told Msg. John Urell of the allegations, DeSimone said.

The diocese ended up settling that lawsuit, he added.

“The diocese had credible allegations brought by two brothers who wanted nothing more than for Father Lyons not to harm other children,” DeSimone said. “Several individuals could have been saved from having to go through what they did but the diocese turned a blind eye toward those allegations.”

Ryan Lilyengren, a spokesman for the diocese, said today that Lyons “was removed from ministry April 24, 2002 and was committed to a life of prayer and penance. Rev. Lyons has not been permitted to return to ministry or the Diocese of Orange in any public capacity since his removal.”

He added that the diocese cooperated with authorities in the investigation.

“We remain committed to ensuring the events of the past are never repeated and encourage all to pray for the victims of sexual abuse and their families,” he said.

Lyons’ three lawyers who handled the Kirrer lawsuit could not be reached.

Authorities ask other potential victims of Lyons to call them at: 714-754-5360 or 714-347-8558.

original story here.

A Richmond city building inspector and former youth minister has been indicted by an Anderson County grand jury on six counts of third-degree rape, five counts of third-degree sodomy, one count of first-degree sexual abuse and one count of second-degree sexual abuse.

Gordon H. Lunceford, 47, of the 1000 block of Walnut Grove Circle, is accused of molesting two victims between February and November of 1992, according to court records obtained by The Anderson News in Lawrenceburg and provided to the Register.

The victims in the indictment were both under 16 years of age, but are identified only by initials.

Lunceford is a former youth minister at churches in Anderson, Franklin and Madison counties, according to Kentucky State Police.

A Gordon Lunceford served as a youth minister at First Baptist Church in Lawrenceburg in 1992, church employees told The Anderson News.

The Rev. Bill Fort, pastor of First Baptist Church on the Eastern Bypass in Richmond, said Lunceford was interim youth director “for a very short time” about two years ago.

Fort said there were no complaints or accusations against Lunceford during the brief time he worked with youth at First Baptist.

A member of Rosedale Baptist Church said Lunceford had once worked with the church’s youth group, but attempts Friday to reach two of the church’s trustees were unsuccessful.

Lunceford posted a $10,000 cash bond and was released from the Franklin County Regional Jail after he surrendered to authorities on June 5, jail officials said Friday.

He is employed by the city of Richmond as a building inspector, but has taken personal leave and has not been on the job recently, according to City Manager David Evans.

Evans said he learned of Lunceford’s indictment Thursday evening through the news media and would “take a look at this” on Tuesday.

City Hall will be closed Monday for the Independence Day holiday.

Lunceford is scheduled for a pretrial conference in Anderson Circuit Court on July 21.

If convicted, Lunceford could receive one to five years in prison on each of the rape and sodomy charges as well as the first-degree sexual abuse charge, which are all Class D felonies. Second-degree sexual abuse is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by 12 months in jail if convicted.

State police Detective Luke VanHoose, of Post 12 in Frankfort, is investigating the case. Anyone with information is asked to call Post 12 at 1-502-227-2221.

An indictment is a formal statement of charges and does not imply guilt.

original story here.

MERCEDES - A minister from a church in Donna will face more charges in connection with a child sex abuse case.

The Mercedes police chief tells NEWSCHANNEL 5 61-year-old Tomas Gonzales will face two new felony counts of indecency with a child.

A third victim has come forward alleging abuse.

Police say all of the victims are relatives of the minister.

Gonzales is behind bars charged with eight counts of aggravated sexual abuse and two counts of indecency with a child.

Gonzales has already confessed to committing the abuse.

original story here.

Pastor Donald Stewart, who was convicted of sexually molesting several boys under his care at the Swift Purcell Boys Home in St. Mary, was given an 18 month suspended sentence on Friday when he appeared before the St. Mary Circuit Court.

The sentence was suspended for 12 months, which means that the pastor will go to prison for 18 months if he commits another offence within the year.

On Tuesday a jury convicted Pastor Stewart, who was the manager of the boys’ home on two counts of indecent assault.

However, he is not out of the woods as yet as he is scheduled to appear in the Home Circuit Court on November 16 to answer to 30 counts of indecent assault and buggery.

Pastor Stewart was arrested and charged in April last year by members of CISOCA following allegations that he sexually molested several wards of the state at the home.

The case sparked outrage from human rights groups when it came to light.

One such group, Jamaicans for Justice, lamented that enough was not being done to protect the welfare of children.

original story here.