Priest Gets Probation for Groping Ex-Altar Boy

Greenwich Village, New York --

A Catholic priest from Pennsylvania was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years probation for taking a 17-year-old former altar boy to a Greenwich Village hotel and groping him.

The Rev. Albert Liberatore, 41, of Lackawanna, apologized in State Supreme Court in Manhattan and accepted responsibility for inappropriate behavior, his attorney, Robert Gottlieb, said Wednesday.

'He admitted he knew he crossed the line,' Gottlieb said. 'He cared very much for and about the boy and his family.'

In June, Liberatore pleaded guilty to attempted sexual abuse and admitted he groped the boy at the Washington Square Park Hotel in May 2002

Liberatore, who has been suspended as a priest, was charged with first-degree sodomy and sexual abuse. He could have received 15 years in prison if convicted at trial.

Justice Rena Uviller said Wednesday she would abide by the negotiated sentence of a decade's probation. In addition, the priest must register as a sex offender, cannot have unsupervised contact with minors nor any contact with the victim, who is now 20.

Read the article at bishop-accountability.org dated 08/11/05

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2d priest defrocked for abuse in N.H. - The Boston Globe

MANCHESTER, N.H. --

Pope Benedict XVI has defrocked a second New Hampshire priest accused of sexual abuse.

The announcement that Paul Aube has been stripped of his priesthood came Friday from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester, which said the Pope made the decision on May 20.

This means Aube can neither act as a priest nor receive financial support from the church. Aube is only the second New Hampshire priest to be defrocked since the state began investigating clergy sexual abuse in 2002. Ronald Corriveau was defrocked by the late Pope John Paul II in March.

Aube was ordained in 1970 and worked at parishes in Claremont, Berlin, Nashua, and Rochester. According to a 2003 report by the state attorney general's office, two Nashua police detectives reported in 1975 that they found Aube parked on a secluded road with an 18-year-old boy; the two were fondling, the report said.

Former Bishop Odore Gendron later transferred Aube from Nashua to a youth ministry position at a Rochester church.

Aube acknowledged in a 2003 interview that he molested several boys in their late teens between 1971 and 1980 while assigned to these churches. He said he confessed the abuse to his superiors and asked for counseling and to be assigned to duties that would keep him away from children.

Read the article at The Boston Globe dated 08/14/05

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Molesting NH priest defrocked by Pope

Manchester, New Hampshire —

Roman Catholic priest Paul L. Aube, who gave special crucifixes to boys he sexually assaulted, has been defrocked by Pope Benedict XVI, church officials announced yesterday.

Aube is the second diocesan priest to lose his collar in light of the priest sex-abuse scandal in New Hampshire. The decision means Aube is no longer bound to the obligations of the priesthood, cannot act as a priest and has been returned to the lay state, the diocese said in a press release.

In 1994, Bishop Leo E. O'Neil permanently removed Aube from ministry, but Aube still kept his status as priest until the Vatican's action, which took place on May 20.

'He was one of the bad ones. He was one of the targets of the Attorney General's investigation,' said Peter Hutchins, a Manchester lawyer who sucessfully sued the Manchester diocese on behalf of dozens of clients.

Four of his clients — three males and one female — were abused by Aube, Hutchins said.

'He was more of a groomer — get to know the kid — vs. someone who would just grab them,' Hutchins said.

Aube had assignments in St. Mary in Claremont, Guardian Angels in Berlin, Holy Rosary in Rochester, Elliot Hospital and Concord Hospital.

Aube admitted to abusing 15 children or young adults while serving in parishes between 1970 to 1981.

Read the article at The Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News dated 08/13/05

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Diocese faces another abuse suit

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin -—

A man who claims he was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest for six years sued the Milwaukee Archdiocese for fraud Thursday.

It was the latest attempt by victims to overturn Wisconsin’s ban on lawsuits against religious groups.

Wisconsin courts have upheld a decade-old ruling that prevents alleged victims from seeking damages. It is the only state with such a law.

Victims’ groups hope evidence obtained in a recent suit in California might persuade a judge to hear the case.

The man, now 44 and identified in court records only as John Doe, claims high-ranking officials in the archdiocese knew that the Rev. Siegfried Widera was sexually abusing children, yet transferred him to cover it up.

The archdiocese transferred Widera in 1976 to the Diocese of Orange in California, where Widera acknowledged molesting at least 10 boys, according to a psychological evaluation.

Read the article at Post-Crescent dated 08/13/05

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Lawyer: Church Knew of Danger

Miami, Florida --

A 38-year-old Broward County man, who says a Catholic priest raped him when he was a young illegal immigrant, has obtained church records that he claims will bolster his bid for punitive damages against the priest and the Archdiocese of Miami.

'Juan Doe' sued the Archdiocese and the Rev. Ernesto Garcia-Rubio in 2002, claiming the one-time pastor of Our Lady of Divine Providence in Sweetwater raped him once in 1984.

Garcia-Rubio was defrocked in the late 1990s after allegations that he had raped a young parishioner and sexually abused four Central American refugees.

Last year, the Archdiocese agreed to pay $3.4 million to settle almost two dozen lawsuits against various priests, including Garcia-Rubio. But the Juan Doe case is still being fought in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

In court papers filed Friday, Fort Lauderdale lawyer Russell Adler claims that he has obtained documents that now prove the Archdiocese knew Garcia-Rubio was a danger to young boys many years earlier and did nothing to stop it.

Read the article at bishop-accountability.org dated 08/12/05

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Jasper priest accused of molesting disabled man facing criminal charges

JASPER, Indiana --
A 52-year-old Roman Catholic priest from St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Jasper, was arrested Thursday afternoon by the Indiana State Police and faces five criminal charges after being accused of molesting a 19-year-old mentally disabled man.

According to an ISP press release, Father Wilfred L. Englert, pastor of the Jasper church, turned himself in at Dubois County Circuit Court, in Jasper, after an almost month-long investigation by the ISP following allegations of sexual abuse by a 19-year-old mentally disabled man.

A criminal investigation began on July 18 after the alleged victim told police that Englert had abused him several times between April and June 2005, according to police.

The alleged molestations took place while Enlglert and the disabled man, whom police said had been friends for about a year, were camping at Patoka Lake in Orange County and at other times at a Dubois County residence.

Read the article at Abuse Tracker 2005B dated 08/12/05

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Former Schuylkill Haven priest faces prison for embezzlement

POTTSVILLE, Pennsylvania --
A Roman Catholic priest who acknowledged owning hundreds of child pornography photos, magazines, videotapes and DVDs as well as embezzling more than $23,000 from the church has been sentenced to three to 23 months in jail on the theft charge.

Read the article at SunGazette dated 08/11/05

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Top NYC Catholic Leader Named in Divorce

NEW YORK, NY — A Roman Catholic monsignor resigned as rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral after being accused of having an affair with a married woman.

Cardinal Edward Egan accepted Msgr. Eugene Clark's resignation Thursday despite the 79-year-old Clark's denials that he has been carrying on an affair with his 46-year-old private secretary, the New York archdiocese said.

'He offered his resignation for the good of Saint Patrick's and the Archdiocese,' the church said in a statement. 'He will not be celebrating Mass or the sacraments publicly until this matter has been resolved.'

Clark has been rector of St. Patrick's in midtown Manhattan since 2001 and has often celebrated Mass there when the cardinal was away. A strong proponent of traditional morality, he blamed the church's sex-abuse scandal in 2002 on 'the campaign of liberal America against celibacy.'

Read the article at ABC News Dated 08/11/05

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Catholic priest sentenced to probation for attempted sex abuse (phillyBurbs.com) | Pennsylvania News

NEW YORK - A Pennsylvania priest who pleaded guilty to attempted sexual abuse for groping a former altar boy on an overnight trip to New York City was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years probation, authorities said.

Albert Liberatore Jr., of Scranton, Pa., admitted groping the boy in a hotel room in May 2002.

The Roman Catholic priest had earlier pleaded guilty in Pennsylvania to sexually assaulting the same boy and was sentenced in June to five years probation.

The victim told police he became involved with the priest when he was an eighth-grade altar boy at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Duryea, Pa. Investigators said the victim said he met the priest for dinners, slept at the rectory and went with him on trips to New York.

Read the article at phillyBurbs.com dated 08/11/05

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Top Catholic leader resigns from church - U.S. News - MSNBC.com

NEW YORK, NY -

A Roman Catholic monsignor named in court papers as 'the other man' in a divorce case resigned Thursday as rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the New York archdiocese said.

Cardinal Edward Egan accepted Msgr. Eugene Clark's resignation from the key church position despite the 79-year-old Clark's denials that he has been carrying on an affair with his 46-year-old private secretary, the church said.

'He offered his resignation for the good of Saint Patrick's and the archdiocese,' the statement said. 'He will not be celebrating Mass or the sacraments publicly until this matter has been resolved.'

Read the article at MSNBC.com dated 08/11/05

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Ex-priest indicted in Daytop sex abuse

Daytop, NJ --

A former Roman Catholic priest whose whereabouts were unknown to the Archdiocese of Newark for a decade was indicted Tuesday on charges of sexual misconduct with four male teenagers he counseled as a social worker last year at Daytop-NJ in Mendham.

A Morris County grand jury handed up an indictment that charges Madison resident Richard J. Mieliwocki, 58, with three counts of child endangerment and five counts of criminal sexual contact that all relate to alleged sexual interaction Mieliwocki had with four youths between the ages of 16 and 18 at the prestigious, in-patient substance abuse rehabilitation facility.

While entrusted with counseling the youths -- including three who were on court-ordered probation -- Mieliwocki asked three about the size of their genitals and whether they masturbated. He allegedly touched the buttocks of one youth, the genitals of a second, and got a third teenager to remove his clothing and then spanked the boy's bare buttocks, court documents state.

Read the article at Daily Record dated 08/10/05

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Former Priest Says He Was Shuttled around after Abuse Allegations

SAN DIEGO -

A former Roman Catholic priest claims church officials shuttled him to new parishes after he was accused of molesting children in the 1970s, according to a newly filed court document.

The declaration by Edward Anthony Rodrigue supports allegations that bishops knew priests were molesting children but covered up the crimes by shifting accused clergy elsewhere. Rodrigue has been convicted of molestation twice and is serving a 10-year term at Corcoran state prison.

'There is overwhelming evidence that the church was well aware of the sexual misconduct of these priests,' said Raymond P. Boucher, lead attorney for hundreds of people who are suing the church.

J. Michael Hennigan, the attorney for the San Diego diocese, said it's difficult to evaluate old claims.

'We're not contending that it's impossible,' Hennigan said. 'Do I have to take the word of a convicted felon?'

Rodrigue was convicted in 1979 of sexually assaulting two boys in Ontario and is behind bars for a second molestation conviction.

Read the article at bishopaccountability.org dated August 10, 2005

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Levada to Answer Questions on Priest Abuse (phillyBurbs.com) | National

PORTLAND, Ore. -

The American archbishop stepping down to become the Catholic Church's doctrinal watchdog will waive diplomatic immunity and answer questions about clergy sex abuse.

Archbishop William Levada of San Francisco decided Wednesday to honor a subpoena he was served at his farewell Mass last Sunday, accepting the jurisdiction of U.S. courts. He had previously refused to agree to jurisdiction and other conditions.

Abuse victims' attorneys want to question Levada, 69, as part of the bankruptcy case of the Archdiocese of Portland, which he led for nearly a decade before assuming the San Francisco post in 1995.

Last year, Portland became the first Catholic diocese in the nation to declare bankruptcy, citing sex abuse lawsuits seeking more than $155 million in damages.

Levada, who official steps down next week to take the job formerly held by Pope Benedict XVI, will be deposed in early January in San Francisco.

Read the article at phillyBurbs.com dated August 11, 2005

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Levada to Answer Questions on Priest Abuse (phillyBurbs.com) | National

Portland, Oregon -

The American archbishop stepping down to become the Catholic Church's doctrinal watchdog will waive diplomatic immunity and answer questions about clergy sex abuse.

Archbishop William Levada of San Francisco decided Wednesday to honor a subpoena he was served at his farewell Mass last Sunday, accepting the jurisdiction of U.S. courts. He had previously refused to agree to jurisdiction and other conditions.

Abuse victims' attorneys want to question Levada, 69, as part of the bankruptcy case of the Archdiocese of Portland, which he led for nearly a decade before assuming the San Francisco post in 1995.

Last year, Portland became the first Catholic diocese in the nation to declare bankruptcy, citing sex abuse lawsuits seeking more than $155 million in damages.

Levada, who official steps down next week to take the job formerly held by Pope Benedict XVI, will be deposed in early January in San Francisco.

Read the article at phillyBurbs.com dated August 11, 2005

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