Clergy CrimesClergy CrimesSAN FRANCISCO — KCBS News in San Francisco has learned that a priest has resigned as pastor of a parish deeply divided by an incident that occurred last November. Fr. James Elward, was discovered wrestling on the floor with a teenage boy. The Diocese says he'll be reassigned. Meanwhile, the priest who witnessed the incident is still on administrative leave ostensibly not because he reported the matter, but for insubordination. (6/8)
DENVER — An Episcopal priest will be leaving her parish and moving to another after acknowledging that she had "relationships" with two women in her congregation. The admission by the Rev. Sandra Wilson, 45, a black female pastor was cited in a confidential memo from Colorado Episcopal Bishop Jerry Winterrowd.
The memo's recipients are not identified, but sources said it was written to two women who accused Wilson in late March of "sexual and ethical misconduct," prompting Wilson's suspension from the pulpit. A third woman also filed a complaint but the nature of it has not been made public. Although a diocesan "response team" found the women's complaints "credible," Winterrowd reinstated Wilson saying the case was closed.
Wilson denies any "exploitation of those parties or abuse of her role" as a priest, the bishop's memo says. But official guidelines of the Episcopal Church forbid a priest from having a sexual relationship with a member of his or her congregation.
Wilson declined comment on the memo because of a confidential agreement
between Wilson and her bishop.
(9/7 Denver Post)
Ayon last year accused the popular Gourley of molesting him nearly 100 times during the 1980s when Ayon was a teenager seeking counseling from Gourley. Gourley denied wrongdoing but was relieved of his duties by Archbishop Charles Chaput and the Archdiocese of Denver, who were also named as defendants in the lawsuit.
In his decision, the judge ruled that the First Amendment prohibits courts from examining whether a church was careful when it selected its priest. He wrote that the separation of church and state in the US Constitution prohibits the courts from delving into the decisions made by a religious organization regarding its priests and staff. He also ruled that the statute of limitations had expired. The point of contention is at what time the statute of limitations begins.
Ayon claims he never realized he was injured until he sought psychotherapy
last year, thus the clock should have started roughly a year ago. But the
court ruled there were 11 instances dating to 1983 when Ayon realized his
situation.
(8/23 Associated Press)
BRIDGEPORT — The Diocese of Bridgeport has admitted it paid settlements to 6 people who claimed they were sexually abused by 3 diocesan priests, a senior diocese official has admitted in court.
Msgr. Laurence Bronkiewicz, the director of clergy personnel for the diocese, refused to say how much money the diocese paid in the settlements. Previously, diocese officials had only admitted two settlements of abuse cases. The statements came in a Superior Court hearing against the diocese by 27 people who claim five current and former diocese priests had abused them.
Documents Bronkiewicz presented to the court identified the three priests as Frs. Laurence Brett, Gavin O'Connor and Walter Coleman.
Diocese officials previously had admitted paying a $250,000 settlement in May 1994 to two men in California, who had claimed they had been molested by Brett in the mid-1960s. Brett had been sent to California after complaints surfaced about him abusing young people in Fairfield and Stamford.
In March, the diocese agreed to pay more than $200,000 to a former altar
boy who claimed O'Connor abused him in 1977.
(9/3 Associated Press)
Fr. John Rudy, 48, pleaded innocent to the new charge and was released on bond. According to an arrest warrant, Rudy improperly touched a boy as many as 10 times while the two went swimming at a lake between July and August 1996.
Rudy was charged in June with two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, after allegedly groping an 18-year-old at the church's friary.
The priest's next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 24.
(9/2 Associated Press)
Two of the lawsuits were filed in 1995 and were only recently unsealed by a judge. The women agreed then to allow the files to remain sealed for 6 weeks, said one of the women's lawyer. The court clerk's office, however, continued to treat the files as sealed after the six- week period ended.
The women allege in their separate lawsuits that during individual counseling sessions with Zizka, he began kissing and fondling them. Both say the sexual activity progressed to intercourse. One was 16 and the other 13 at the time.
Both say the sexual activity continued for several years, until approximately September 1979, when Zizka was transferred. A third lawsuit, filed last year by a another woman also alleges Zizka sexually abused her at the church when she was around 13 years old. It was unclear if that alleged abuse included sexual intercourse.
The archdiocese removed Zizka for 90 days in the fall of 1993 so he could
undergo psychological evaluations. But Zizka was allowed to return.
(6/24 Hartford Courant)
TAMPA — The president of the National Baptist Convention USA pleaded not guilty to federal fraud charges and was allowed to remain free on a $125,000 bond. Rev. Henry Lyons, 56, was indicted by a federal grand jury on grounds that he had used the organization of black churches to steal millions of dollars from corporations and activists.
Lyons was indicted on 56 counts including fraud, extortion, conspiracy and tax evasion. At the hearing, 8 friends of his pledged to cover the bond. He said that all of his assets were frozen by the government.
Prosecutors charge that Lyons fraudulently solicited contributions for charitable causes, including the rebuilding of black churches destroyed by arsonists. The indictment said he used the donations to support a lavish lifestyle, buying cars, jewelry, country club memberships and homes throughout the country.
Lyons already faced state charges that he used his position to bilk millions
of dollars from companies doing business with the church group. A federal
grand jury also indicted a convention employees Bernice Edwards and Brenda
Harris. Both are free on bond also.
(7/7 Reuters)
"I have prayed each day for these persons and their families," Symons said in a statement. "It is a memory with which we have lived far too long."
Symons, 65, left his post at the diocese for evaluation and treatment at an undisclosed location, said Bp. Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg., the new administrator of the Palm Beach diocese, but it was not believed to be the St. Luke's center in Suitland, Md., where his sexually abusive subordinate, retired priest Rocco D'Angelo is believed to be.
The allegations surfaced five weeks previously when a now-middle aged man told church officials Symons had sexually molested him while he was a teen-age parishioner.
Lynch refused to specify where or when the abuse occurred, but said there were at least 5 victims in 3 churches all boys, all parishioners and likely all altar boys. In at least one case, the abuse lasted several years. Symons says he has not abused anyone in at least 25 years, Lynch said.
"I want to believe him," Lynch said. "But sometimes (pedophiles) are in such deep denial they don't remember what they did." He said treatment for Symons mandated and organized by the church can last up to a year.
After several years of the abuse, Symons consulted another priest who told him to abstain from alcohol and be chaste, Lynch said. He said he doesn't fault the spiritual adviser for not forcing Symons to seek help.
Symons was the chancellor of the St.Petersburg diocese from 1971-81when Fr. Rocco Charles D'Angelo was moved there from Miami. Symons was the keeper of the paperwork, the official church records.He was the administrator who admitted receiving a letter describing D'Angelo's history as a pedophile in South Florida.
D'Angelo was being accused by 5 former altarboys of assaulting them in the 1960s and 1970s.
Symons' departure comes a week after a man announced he'd settled a lawsuit against the church in the D'Angelo case, one of at least 8 men who say the priest molested them.
The man sued Symons, the Diocese of Palm Beach and the Archdiocese of
Miami in 1996. In court documents, the church later admitted to the sexual
assaults and to placing D'Angelo in treatment. Records show D'Angelo admitted
being a molester, sometimes assaulting boys while wearing his priestly vestments.The
church admitted promising victims' parents the priest would be sent where
he could not bother children; instead, D'Angelo spent 25 years in the Tampa
Bay area.
(6/5 Associated Press)
PEORIA — 13 onetime altar boys are suing their priest, saying he used to fondle them as they prepared for Mass. The lawsuits came three months after prosecutors declined to charge Msgr. Norman Goodman, citing lack of evidence.
The lawsuits allege that Goodman would molest the altar boys as he draped them in their cassocks before services. Goodman abruptly retired last October after serving as the pastor of a Lincoln church for 35 years. The congregation found out about his resignation through a note he left in the weekly church newsletter.
His lawyer said his client had been aware of the allegations and had resigned to avoid embarrassing the congregation.
Two lawsuits were filed: one by the parents of a boy who is still a minor, and one brought by 12 men who say they were abused as children. Each of the 13 is seeking at least $50,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages.
The lawsuits name both Goodman and the Diocese of Peoria, contending the diocese knew about the allegations against him.
A criminal investigation into the allegations of sexual abuse ended in
May when the state's attorney decided there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute
Goodman.
(8/13 Associated Press)
