Sexual abuse scandal in the Salesian order

Last updated

The sexual abuse scandal in the Salesian Order is a major chapter in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in various Western jurisdictions.

Contents

Abuse in Australia

In Australia, there are allegations that the Salesians moved a priest convicted of abuse in Melbourne to Samoa to avoid further police investigation and charges. [1] [2]

In August 2008, the Salesian head in Australia, Fr Frank Moloney SDB, apologised to victims of a former priest Paul Evans convicted of a series of offences. Evans was a Salesian priest when the offences occurred at Boys' Town in Sydney in the 1980s. He was legally and canonically removed from the Order in 1991. [3]

There have been a number of convictions related to sexual abuse by teachers and priests at the school, particularly in regard to offences committed in the 1970s and 80s, [4] including: Michael Aulsebrook, gaoled for the sexual abuse of a 12-year-old student in 1983; [5] Peter Paul van Ruth, who was sentenced to 28 months gaol in 2011 for indecently assaulting two 12-year-old boys; [6] and Frank Klep, a former principal of the college who "...was convicted in 1994 of four charges of sexual assault relating to incidents during the 1970s." [7]

Other priests from the college reached settlements with substantial compensation payments paid to their victims, over allegations of sexual abuse, but were not otherwise convicted, [8] [9] [10] [11] while Father Jack Ayers, a teacher and gardener at the school, was moved to Samoa after accusations were made against him. [12]

Abuse in Belgium

In 2007, a Belgian criminal court convicted Willem VC, a laicised Salesian priest, to four years imprisonment for sexual delinquency with multiple adolescent minors. During the criminal investigation by the police and judiciary previous acts of sexual delinquency were discovered that occurred during his membership of the Salesian congregation. He was expelled from this order in 2001 for these incidents. [13]

Father Luk Delft was convicted for child abuse and possession of child pornography in 2012 and was ordered by the court to not have contact with minors until 2022 and a suspended prison sentence of 18 months. [14] Reporting by CNN revealed that the Salesian order of Belgium was aware of the convictions and of problems with Delft's behavior dating back as far as 2001 when it he confessed he had molested two boys in a Don Bosco school in Zwijnaarde. He was transferred to another Don Bosco school, this time in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, without the police being informed. There, child pornography was found on his computer in 2009 and he is asked to leave the school. Later, a former colleague will inform the police, which will lead to his 2012 conviction. Despite this conviction, he was able to travel to the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2013 to work in a leading role for the catholic NGO Caritas in the country, with the knowledge of the Salesian order and the probation committee in Belgium. In 2019 CNN reporters confronted Delft with new accusations of child abuse in a refugee camp of CAR. He is then sent back to Belgium by Salesian superior Father Carlo Loots. Caritas denied knowing about Delft's pedophilia. Father Loots said to CNN that the Salesians were “naive” to send Delft to the CAR: “It’s a little bit cynical, probably, to give him a new opportunity and that posting at Kaga-Bandoro and (to expect) that the Bishop of Kaga-Bandoro would take responsibility for him.” The Bishop of Kaga-Bandoro at that time, Albert Vanbuel, was himself a Belgian Salesian.

Abuse in Italy

Don Gabriele Corsani [15] [16] [17]

Paolo Malini e Don Nicolò Migliorini [18] [19]

On December 20, 2019, Maria Angela Fare, a former Italian nun of the Sisters of Don Bosco, was sentenced to three and a half years facing jail for sexual abuse of a girl she met in the oratory. The girl later died by suicide in 2011. [20]

Abuse in the Netherlands

In February 2010 the Salesians were accused of sexual abuse in their juvenate Don Rua in 's-Heerenberg. Salesian bishop of Rotterdam van Luyn pleaded for a thorough investigation. [21]

Abuse in the United States

In 2002, it was alleged that the leaders chose to keep quiet when confronted with allegations of abuse. [22]

In 2006, the Dallas Morning News reported that the leaders of the Salesians of Don Bosco based in San Francisco had moved priests accused of child sexual abuse from country to country, away from law enforcement and victims. This included Rev. Frank Klep, who was allegedly moved to the Pacific island of Samoa in 1998 while he was under criminal investigation in Australia. [23] During the same year, two instances of sexual abuse occurring between 1969 and 1979 at Salesian High School (now Salesian College Preparatory) in Richmond, California, resulted in a large settlement for one victim and a jury award to another. [24]

In 2012, the Oblates of St Francis de Sales of the Wilmington/ Philadelphia Province, an Order that is separate and distinct from the Salesians of Don Bosco, published an open letter of contrition and healing over activities in 2004 in Wilmington, Delaware. [25]

Eastern United States

Fr. Francis "Frank" Nugent, SDB Francis Nugent groomed and targeted three siblings in a single-parent household. [26] Father Nugent lavished tens of thousands of the Salesians of Don Bosco's dollars on Patrick, one of seven children of a perennially broke alcoholic single mother, paying for anything he wanted, like a trip to Europe, motel rooms for trysts with his girlfriends and endless beer. In the mid-70's, according to Ms. Gallagher and several of her old friends, Nugent used his position as director of the Salesians' Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, New Jersey, to serve as an all-purpose enabler for a group of wayward, mostly poor teenagers from the nearby town of Waldwick, including the Gallaghers. They said he turned a stone house on school property into a sort of Plato's Youth Retreat, stocking it with vast amounts of liquor for parties, encouraging under-age couples to use it as a love nest. At the center of Nugent's circle, Ms. Gallagher said, was her older brother Patrick, who was probably 12 when Nugent met him at a youth camp the priest ran in Ellenville, New York. Ms. Gallagher said that Nugent lavished tens of thousands of the Salesians' dollars on Patrick, one of seven children of a perennially broke alcoholic single mother, paying for anything he wanted, like a trip to Europe, motel rooms for trysts with his girlfriends and endless beer. Susan, four years younger than Patrick, was also on Nugent's A-list. She says he took her shopping often, bought her dinner at fancy restaurants and gave her hundreds of dollars to buy marijuana for herself and her friends, stuffing tightly folded bills into her pants pockets. For Patrick, the price of this largesse was years of sexual abuse, Ms. Gallagher said. When Susan turned 14, she said, Nugent, a short, roly-poly man, started in on her, making her perform oral sex on him. Patrick's older brother, Brendan, 48, who owns a bar and lives in New Orleans, said Nugent molested him once, too. Over time, Ms. Gallagher said, Nugent lost interest in her, but not in Patrick. Eventually, Brendan said, Patrick began pushing Nugent away, but in 1980, while drunk, he drove a car owned by the Salesians into a pond and died. He was 25. [27]

Western United States

Fr. Titian Miani, SDB In 2008 the Salesian Society of Los Angeles agreed to pay $19.5 million to 17 childhood molestation victims, ending the last unresolved case involving the Los Angeles Archdiocese's sexual abuse crisis. [28] The settlement came after jurors were preparing to hear allegations that the Salesians knew Father Titian Miani been accused of preying on youths when they assigned him to St John Bosco High School in Bellflower, where he allegedly molested four children. [29] After his transfer to Bellflower, he befriended a family whose father had recently died. While the mother was busy at work and night school, Miani would show up at the family home and molest the 15-year-old son and two daughters, the court documents said. Miani left the order in 1974 but continued to serve as a priest until his retirement from clerical duties in 1993. [30]

Fr. Nicholas "Nick" Reina, SDB One of the highest profile Salesian priests to be credibly accused is Fr. Nicholas "Nick" Reina, who was the highest ranking Salesian priest ("provincial") and leader of the Salesians of Don Bosco, Western Province from 1997 to 2003. [31] Nicholas Reina is accused of abuse that occurred in 2000. [32] The alleged abuse was reported to the Los Angeles Archdiocese in 2018. [33] He was removed from ministry in 2018. [34] In 2018, Nicholas Reina was included in a revised list of accused priests published by the Los Angeles Archdiocese. [35] Nicholas Reina was ordained in 1978 and was "removed from ministry" in 2018. [36]

Fr. Bernard Dabbene, SDB Fr. Bernard Dabbene was ordained a Salesian priest. In 2000, Dabbene was "removed from ministry" after he was arrested for suspected child molestation when he was caught with a minor by a police officer in San Francisco. [37] He was placed on three years’ probation, given 300 hours of community service, required to undergo counseling and avoid minors, and to register as a sex offender. Following six months of treatment, he was sent to the Salesian Provincial Residence in San Francisco where he worked as an Archivist until his death in 2010. [38] In 2002, another survivor came forward alleging child sexual abuse by Dabbene in 1959, while he worked as a teacher and lay brother at Salesian High School in Richmond, California. Dabbene worked with children in multiple parishes for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles including Don Bosco Technical Institute and St. John Bosco High School. [39]

Fr. Stephen Whelan, SDB Stephen Whelan was the editor of Salesian Bulletin in 1997. Civil suit filed in 2003 by a man alleging abuse, including rape, by Fr. Whelan when he was a student at Salesian High School (Richmond, California) from 1969 to the early 1970s. Whelan's accuser said Brother Sal Billante, SDB witnessed the abuse and said nothing. Further, the victim-survivor told a counselor and was then chastised and threatened by the school principal. [40] Also, that school administrator Fr. David Purdy, SDB attempted to induce him to commit suicide. Whelan was still active in August 2005. A civil trial began on July 7, 2006. On July 19, 2006, a jury awarded the plaintiff $600,000 in damages. Whelan was removed from his position after the verdict and was moved to the Salesian Order provincial house in San Francisco, California. The Salesians of Don Bosco appealed the ruling and the California Court of Appeals upheld the verdict in August 2008. Whelan was removed from public ministry as a result and was added to the Diocese of Oakland (California)'s list of credibly accused priests in 2019. [40]

Br. Salvatore Billante, SDB Br. Salvatore Billante pled guilty to sexually abusing a victim and was sentenced to eight years in prison in 1989. Billante abused as many as 25 boys from 1969 to 1989. In 1994, Billante was released from prison and registered as a sex offender. He subsequently left the Salesians of Don Bosco. In 2002, Billante was arrested again for abusing a boy, but the charges were dropped. He was named in a 2003 civil suit and was added to a list of credibly accused priests in the Diocese of Oakland in 2019. [41]

Fr. Thomas McGahee, SDB

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church sexual abuse cases</span>

There have been many cases of sexual abuse of children by priests, nuns, and other members of religious life in the Catholic Church. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the cases have involved many allegations, investigations, trials, convictions, acknowledgement and apologies by Church authorities, and revelations about decades of instances of abuse and attempts by Church officials to cover them up. The abused include mostly boys but also girls, some as young as three years old, with the majority between the ages of 11 and 14. Criminal cases for the most part do not cover sexual harassment of adults. The accusations of abuse and cover-ups began to receive public attention during the late 1980s. Many of these cases allege decades of abuse, frequently made by adults or older youths years after the abuse occurred. Cases have also been brought against members of the Catholic hierarchy who covered up sex abuse allegations and moved abusive priests to other parishes, where abuse continued.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salesians of Don Bosco</span> Roman Catholic order

The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales, is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youngsters during the Industrial Revolution. The congregation was named after Francis de Sales, a 17th-century bishop of Geneva.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans</span> Latin Catholic archdiocese in the United States

The Archdiocese of New Orleans is a Latin Church ecclesiastical division of the Catholic Church spanning Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, and Washington civil parishes of southeastern Louisiana. It is the second to the Archdiocese of Baltimore in age among the present dioceses in the United States, having been elevated to the rank of diocese on April 25, 1793, during Spanish colonial rule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Bosco Technical Institute – Tarlac</span> Roman Catholic school in Tarlac, Philippines

Don Bosco Technical Institute in Tarlac City, or simply Don Bosco Tarlac, is a private Catholic school for pre-school, grade school and junior high school boys. In 2016, it opened its co-educational senior high school department. The first Don Bosco school in the Philippines, it is the only academic-technical school in Tarlac. Its campus is located in Sto. Cristo, Tarlac City, Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Bosco Academy, Pampanga</span> Roman Catholic school in Pampanga, Philippines

Don Bosco Academy also referred to by its acronym DBA or Don Bosco Pampanga" is a private Catholic Salesian technical educational institution for boys run by the Salesians of the Society of Saint John Bosco in Mabalacat, Pampanga, Philippines. It was founded in 1956 by the (Salesians).

This page documents Catholic Church sexual abuse cases by country.

The Archdiocese of Boston sex abuse scandal was part of a series of Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in the United States that revealed widespread crimes in the American Catholic Church. In early 2002, TheBoston Globe published results of an investigation that led to the criminal prosecutions of five Roman Catholic priests and thrust the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy into the national spotlight. Another accused priest who was involved in the Spotlight scandal also pleaded guilty. The Globe's coverage encouraged other victims to come forward with allegations of abuse, resulting in numerous lawsuits and 249 criminal cases.

The sexual abuse scandal in Los Angeles archdiocese covered events that were documented beginning in the 1930s, but most publicity was related to events of the 1970s through 1990s. Priests accused of molesting children or adults in the parish were typically reassigned, without informing new parishes of charges against them, as the church protected its staff. Changes in policy took place, a dozen priests were dismissed in 2002, the church issued an apology and detailed report in 2004, and in 2007, the Archdiocese reached a settlement with 508 victims of $660 million, a recordbreaking amount. More lawsuits are expected when the California statute of limitations will be temporarily lifted on January 1, 2020.

The sexual abuse scandal in Miami archdiocese is part of the Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States and Ireland. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami is the largest non-governmental provider of social services and operates the largest non-governmental school and hospital system in South Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual abuse scandals in Catholic orders and societies</span>

As distinct from abuse by some parish priests, who are subject to diocesan control, there has also been abuse by members of Roman Catholic orders, which often care for the sick or teach at school. Just as diocesan clergy have arranged parish transfers of abusive priests, abusive brothers in Catholic orders are sometimes transferred.

The Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Victoria is part of the Catholic clerical sexual abuse in Australia and the much wider Catholic sexual abuse scandal in general, which involves charges, convictions, trials and ongoing investigations into allegations of sex crimes committed by Catholic priests and members of religious orders. The Catholic Church in Victoria has been implicated in a reported 40 suicides among about 620 sexual abuse victims acknowledged to the public after internal investigations by the Catholic Church in Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emilio Allué</span> Catholic bishop (1935–2020)

Emilio Simeon Allué Carcasona, SDB was a Spanish-born American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston until his retirement in 2010.

The sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, U.S., is a significant episode in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States, Ireland and elsewhere. The Philadelphia abuses were substantially revealed through a grand jury investigation in 2005. In early 2011, a new grand jury reported extensive new charges of abusive priests active in the archdiocese. In 2012, a guilty plea by priest Edward Avery and the related trial and conviction of William Lynn and mistrial on charges against James J. Brennan followed from the grand jury's investigations. In 2013, Charles Engelhardt and teacher Bernard Shero were tried, convicted and sentenced to prison. Lynn was the first official to be convicted in the United States of covering up abuses by other priests in his charge and other senior church officials have been extensively criticized for their management of the issue in the archdiocese.

The Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Europe has affected several dioceses in European nations. Italy is an exceptional case as the 1929 Lateran Treaty gave the Vatican legal autonomy from Italy, giving the clergy recourse to Vatican rather than Italian law.

The parish transfers of abusive Catholic priests, also known as priest shuffling, is a pastoral practice that has greatly contributed to the aggravation of Catholic Church sexual abuse cases. Some bishops have been heavily criticized for moving offending priests from parish to parish, where they still had personal contact with children, rather than seeking to have them permanently returned to the lay state by laicization. The Church was widely criticized when it was discovered that some bishops knew about some of the alleged crimes committed, but reassigned the accused instead of seeking to have them permanently removed from the priesthood.

The Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Latin America is a significant part of the series of Catholic sex abuse cases.

The sexual abuse scandal in Hartford archdiocese is an episode in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Óscar Julio Vian Morales</span>

Óscar Julio Vian Morales S.D.B. was archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guatemala from his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 2 October 2010 until his death from cancer. He had previously served as archbishop of Los Altos in Guatemala. He was born in Guatemala City, ordained a priest in 1976, and appointed Vicar Apostolic of El Petén in 1996. He was installed as Archbishop of Los Altos on 17 April 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of Our Lady of Dolours, Wadala</span>

The Church of Our Lady of Dolours, Wadala is a Roman Catholic church in Mumbai, India built in 1853. The parish of Our Lady of Dolours with its school, St. Joseph's was entrusted to the Salesians in 1948, about the same time as the Salesians settled in Matunga. The school was co-ed until the Salesian Sisters came into the Wadala Village with the Auxilium Convent for girls. The centerpiece of the church is a statue of the Pieta.

Jeffrey Marc "Jeff" Herman is an American trial lawyer who specializes in representing victims of sexual abuse, and has been described as a "[t]op church sex abuse attorney". He is the founding and managing partner of the South Florida-based firm Herman Law, and has been described in the media as "the nation's leading attorney when it comes to handling high-profile sexual abuse lawsuits".

References

  1. ↑ "Abuse. International investigation implicates Salesians/Australia". Cathnews.com. 2004-06-22. Archived from the original on July 3, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  2. ↑ "Runaway Priests: Hiding in Plain Sight". Dallas News. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  3. ↑ "Salesians apologise over abuse - CathNews". Archived from the original on 2012-02-24. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  4. ↑ 'Salesian Provincial breaks silence on sex abuse' Catholic News archive July 2004
  5. ↑ 'Sunbury priest jailed for sex abuse' The Age August 23, 2011 Adrian Lowe
  6. ↑ "After 42 years, boarding school molester finally brought to justice". The Age. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  7. ↑ More Salesian old boys speak out The Age July 3, 2004
  8. ↑ 'Mission to defrock sex abuser' By Martin Daly The Age July 19, 2004
  9. ↑ Lowe, Adrian (23 August 2011). "Sunbury priest jailed for sex abuse". The Age. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  10. ↑ Stayner, Guy (25 June 2004). "Paedophile priest arrested in Melbourne". Lateline. Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  11. ↑ Daly, Martin (24 July 2004). "Priest used drink on boys: victim". The Age. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  12. ↑ 'Accused Salesian priest Father Jack Ayers too old for justice, by Shannon Derry, Herald Sun September 05, 2011
  13. ↑ De Standaard, 17–18 April 2010
  14. ↑ "Missionario accusato di abusi su minori/ Video, pedofilia: Le scuse della Caritas". 22 November 2019.
  15. ↑ "Don Gabriele Corsani: IL Prete Amico dei Berlusconi Condannato, by Dario Ferri, the Giornalettismo, July 16, 2013".
  16. ↑ "Associazione sopravvissuti agli abusi sessuali del clero - Osservatorio permanente".
  17. ↑ "Violenza sessuale su allievo, condannato economo dei Salesiani". 15 July 2013.
  18. ↑ De Riccardis, Sandro (11 February 2017). "Abusi in oratorio nel Milanese, condannati educatore e prete: "Una tela di ragno intorno al ragazzino"" [Abuses in the oratory in the Milanese area, educator and priest condemned: "A spider's web around the boy"]. milano.repubblica.it (in Italian).
  19. ↑ https://www.letteradonna.it/it/articoli/attualita/2017/03/02/se-il-gender-distrae-anche-il-papa/22838/ [ dead link ]
  20. ↑ https://www.en24.news/2019/12/sexual-abuse-a-former-nun-sentenced-to-3-and-a-half-years-she-will-go-to-prison-he-raped-a-girl-he-met-in-the-oratory-who-committed-suicide-in-2011.html [ dead link ]
  21. ↑ ‘Onderzoek misbruik op alle internaten’. De Volkskrant, Februari 8, 2010 / March 9, 2010.
  22. ↑ "Vatican sued in sex abuse cases". BBC News. 2002-04-04. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  23. ↑ "Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas". Archived from the original on 2006-07-07.
  24. ↑ Russell, Ron (2006-10-04). "Troubled Order". San Francisco News. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  25. ↑ Oblates of St Francis de Sales (2012). "Healing Letter" . Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  26. ↑ "Abuse Victim is Suspicious about Timing of Apology [Frank Nugent SDB], by Andy Newman, NY Times, April 11, 2002".
  27. ↑ Newman, Andy (11 April 2002). "Abuse Victim is Suspicious About Timing of Apology". The New York Times.
  28. ↑ Winton, Richard (2008-05-15). "Priest abuse case settled for $19.5 million". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  29. ↑ "Salesians fighting civil suit". Los Angeles Times . 9 May 2008.
  30. ↑ May 15, 2008 Los Angeles Times
  31. ↑ "Pedophile priests operated at a California school for decades".
  32. ↑ "Nicholas Reina, SDB – Introduction". 2 March 2021.
  33. ↑ "2018 Update – Introduction".
  34. ↑ "Nicholas Reina, SDB – Introduction". 2 March 2021.
  35. ↑ "L.A. Archdiocese reveals list of 54 clergy accused of abusing children". Los Angeles Times . 7 December 2018.
  36. ↑ "Fr. Nicholas Reina - Archdiocese of Los Angeles". 18 October 2020.
  37. ↑ "Pedophile priests operated at a California school for decades".
  38. ↑ "House of the Accused". 4 January 2006.
  39. ↑ "Fr. Bernard Dabbene, SDB". Sexabusefirm.
  40. 1 2 "Pedophile priests operated at this Bay Area school for decades. This is the Catholic order that covered up their abuse". 2 December 2019.
  41. ↑ "Oakland Diocese names 45 accused of sexual abuse, none since 1988". 18 February 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.