Uncategorized Archives - Page 9 of 26 - Halifax Sexual Abuse Claims Blog

May 29th, 2011

Nowhere to Hide: Internet Helps Bring Sexual Abuser to Justice

Great article by Bob Weber of the Canadian Press about the hunt to bring Eric Dejaeger to justice.

Dejaeger a catholic priest, pleading guilty to sexually abusing nine children while he was in Nunavet. He was released after serving less than a year in jail. RCMP then charged him with three counts of indecent assault and three counts of buggery stemming from his time in Igloolik.

Dejaeger fled to Belgium after being charged. He lived freely and openly with the Oblates in Brussels despite the efforts of the Canadian authorities to extradite him to face charges.

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May 16th, 2011

Vatican’s Abuse Guidelines: Action or Window Dressing?

by John McKiggan

The Vatican’s Guidelines to Bishops for dealing with claims of priest sexual abuse has now been released.

Cardinal William Joseph Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, also released a brief letter accompanying the Guidelines.

Levada says that the Guidelines were drafted to “…facilitate the correct application” of the Pope’s previous instructions.

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May 13th, 2011

Amnesty International Names Vatican for Failing to Protect Children

by John McKiggan

Today Amnesty International published it’s annual report Amnesty International Report 2011: The State of the World’s Human Rights, which examines human rights offences in various countries throughout the world.

The report concludes:

“…the Holy See did not sufficiently comply with its international obligations relating to the protection of children”.

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May 11th, 2011

Vatican to Issue New Abuse Guidelines

by John McKiggan

The Associated Press reports that the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith plans to release new guidelines advising Bishops on how to deal with cases of sexual abuse of children by priests.

The guidelines have been in the works for at least six months. In November last year, Cardinal William Levada indicated the Vatican would recommend establishing prevention programs, better screening of priests and advise Bishops to obey civil reporting requirements.

Need a Recommendation to Obey the Law?

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May 5th, 2011

Catholics Must Discuss Sexual Abuse Openly and Honestly: Kenny

by John McKiggan

Last weekend Summerside Prince Edward Island hosted the annual convention of the Catholic Women’s League.

The keynote speaker was Sister Nuala Kenny, a Professor Eeritus at Dalhousie University and a policy advisor to the Catholic Health Alliance of Canada. Sister Kenny has dedicated much of her life to addressing the tragedy of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

In her address to the CWL, Sister Kenny urged all Catholics to work together with their Bishops and Clergy to renew and revitalize the church. However, to do so, she said that the church has to talk openly about how the sexual abuse of children has been allowed to happen and find a way to ensure that it never happens again.

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May 4th, 2011

Lahey Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography

by John McKiggan

Today former Antigonish Diocese Bishop Raymond Lahey pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

He pleaded not guilty to possession for the purposes of distribution.

It seems likely that Lahey’s lawyers have worked out a deal with the Crown regarding sentencing.

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April 20th, 2011

Church Covered Up Abuse: No Punishment Necessary

by John McKiggan

Justice David Little issued a damning decision today castigating former Bishop John Sherlock and the Roman Catholic Church for years of covering up sexual abuse by Canada’s most notorious pedophile Father Charles Sylvestre.

Cover Up

In a strongly worded judgement Justice Little stated:

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April 18th, 2011

Probation Officer Lets Sex Offender Coach Minor Hockey: Province Responsible for Harm

by John McKiggan

The Province of British Columbia was recently held vicariously liable for the sexual abuse of a convicted sex offender who sexually abused a minor hockey player that he was coaching.

Reasons for judgment were recently released by Justice Dley in D.K.B. v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of British Columbia.

Failure to Notify

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April 14th, 2011

N.S. Court of Appeal Upholds Acquittal of Wife who Plotted to Kill Abusive Husband

by John McKiggan

While this blog is normally dedicated to cases and news involving sexual abuse, I thought a recent decision of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal merited comment.

Landmark Decision

In a ground breaking decision, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal has upheld the acquittal of school teacher Nicole Ryan who had been charged with trying to arrange for the murder of her abusive husband. Ryan was charged after hiring an undercover police officer to kill her estranged husband.

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April 14th, 2011

Accused Abuser Doesn’t Have to Produce Psychological Records

by John McKiggan

Reasons for judgement were recently released in the case of B.M.B v. Fallona et al. .

The plaintiff B.M.B. filed a claim accusing the defendant Fallona, a Roman Catholic priest, of sexually assaulting her.

B.M.B. applied to court for an order requiring Fallona to produce a copy of various physicians’ records who provided mental health services to the priest.

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Category: Uncategorized