City pastor cited in child abuse case
[Source]:
PEACE Muhindo is helpless and paralysed on the left side thanks to a spinal cord injury. She writhes in pain on her Ward 2B bed at Mulago Hospital where she was dumped and has been admitted since June 26.
The 15-year-old former street child was only helped when FIDA, an association of women lawyers came to her rescue earlier this month and took over her medical bills.
FIDA lawyer Barbra Bawetera said her organisation was tipped by a Good Samaritan. Now the Police are investigating Pastor Irene Manjeri Nalongo whom the girl accused of assault.
However, two months after the incident, the Police are yet to make any arrests.
The head of the professional standards unit, John Ndungutse, said detectives were investigating the way the case has been handled.
The pastor, according to Muhindo, instructed her guards to beat her up so as to “cast out demons” from her.
Manjeri is the founder of Bethel Healing Centre Ministries, which owns a string of churches and orphanages. She is a senior pastor at the church located in Kitovu, Kanjjansi, off Kampala-Entebbe highway. She runs a branch at the former Pride Theatre on Namirembe Road.
Muhindo had lived in Manjeri’s Bethel Orphanage where she had been admitted since 2005.
The girl said after the beating, she was dumped at Butabika Mental Hospital on October 17, 2007, where she lived for nine months.
Muhindo told the Police she was forcefully taken to the hospital on Manjeri’s orders.
In support of this, Butabika’s senior medical social worker, Justus Twesigye, said Muhindo has never been mentally unstable.
“Instead, she was physically abused and dumped in Butabika.”
The Police, he said, insisted that Muhindo must be admitted. “We assessed her and found she was not mentally sick.”
In a reaction, Manjeri told Bukedde, a New Vision sister paper and leading Luganda daily, that Muhindo fought with two other children in 2007 and got “severely injured”.
After treatment, Manjeri added, Muhindo was taken to Butabika when she showed signs of “mental instability”.
She said Muhindo’s father, Simon Kisembo, a Police officer, lives in Nsambya Barracks.
Muhindo, Manjeri said, sneaked back to the orphanage but later “disappeared”.
The pastor said nothing about the assault.However, a Mulago medical social worker, John Baptist Ebaat, said when Manjeri discovered that Muhindo was back in the orphanage, she ordered the guard to beat her up.
“The guard beat her until she was unconscious.”
She was taken to Katwe Police Station, which referred her to Mulago.
Katwe district Police commander Aggrey Nshekanabo yesterday said the girl went to the station to look for her father but the officers failed to find him.
Muhindo, he said, went away but later in the day, came back “claiming she had been beaten”.
Manjeri’s husband Dr. Vincent Katongole admitted his wife had talked to him about the girl but placed the responsibility on the guard and his employer.
“The lawyers of the security company where the guard comes from are handling the case,” he said.
“The guard was employed by a private security firm and they take responsibility.”
Mulago spokesman Elifaz Sekabira said although Muhindo was “completely paralysed”, she had received death threats.
The hospital, he added, had consequently asked for Police protection.
Man testifies of alleged sex abuse by priest
[Source]:
BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) – A man suing the Belleville diocese has told a jury a former priest sexually abused him 40 or 50 times decades ago and threatened to kill his parents if he told.
James Wisniewski (wizh-NEW’-skee) says he was an altar boy at St. Theresa’s Parish in Salem when the Reverend Raymond Kownacki allegedly abused him from 1973 to 1978.
Wisniewski testified that Kownacki told him that the church condoned sexual abuse of minors. Wisniewski also told jurors that Kownacki threatened to kill Wisniewski’s parents if the molestation ever became known.
He said Kownacki showed him a handgun under his bed.
An attorney for the diocese did not immediately return messages Tuesday. No published telephone listing for Kownacki could be found.
Jury deliberations continue in priest sex abuse trial
[Source]:
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) – Jurors deliberated for a second tday today without reaching a verdict in a priest sex abuse case in Burlington.
The jury in Chittenden County Superior Court has deliberated for 13 hours over two days, but they were sent home at 5 o-clock today by Judge Matthew Katz and will resume tomorrow morning.
The case hinges on claims by a Waitsfield man that he was molested by a parish priest when he was an altar boy at Christ the King Church in Burlington.
The man, now 40, says he has been troubled by nightmares and has had difficulties with intimacy as a result of the abuse.
Suit accuses retired priest of abuse
[Source] August 26, 2008:
Once again, allegations of sexual abuse have surfaced against a retired Catholic priest.
The allegations are contained in the sixth lawsuit accusing former Memphian Rev. Paul W. St. Charles, 70, of child molestation.
In a lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Memphis, a Bartlett man identified as “John Doe” alleges he was abused during the 1970s when he was in the eighth grade and was an altar boy at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Frayser. St. Charles was director of a youth organization at the church.
The suit claims the abuse occurred in the front seat of St. Charles’ car at a drive-in movie.
“He’s abused a ton of people,” said David Brown, coordinator for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in Memphis.
Although five people have taken legal action against St. Charles over the years, Brown claims many more have told SNAP they’ve been abused by the same priest.
At least three of the suits have been settled.
Standing on the steps of the Shelby County Courthouse on Monday to announce a new victim had come forward, Brown pointed to the Catholic church next door and said, “They turn their backs on the victims and the victims have to search for justice over here.”
Father John Geaney, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Memphis, says the diocese has always acted in the best interest of children.
“We are very clear about the fact that we want to do everything we can to make sure the children are protected,” he said.
But the diocese has been criticized for not notifying authorities earlier of allegations.
Responding to a complaint two years after it was made, in 2004, Bishop J. Terry Steib suspended St. Charles from any priestly duties.
A diocesan review board found that “more likely than not” he had engaged in inappropriate activity with minors and found complaints going back 30 years.
Following reports of his suspension, other alleged victims began surfacing, including a plaintiff in 2005 who also claimed St. Charles molested him at a drive-in.
Before retiring in 1986, St. Charles was a Catholic Youth Organization leader — a social group for teens — at Our Lady of Sorrows and pastor at Church of the Ascension.
Now living in Nashville, St. Charles is battling a weak heart and a neuromuscular disease that has put him in a wheelchair.
He said in a telephone interview Monday that he was unaware of the newest lawsuit, but said he was never a child molester.
“I’m just counting the days, waiting for the Lord to take me,” he said. “And when I stand before the Lord, my conscience is clear.”
Former Morris priest pleads guilty to having child porn
[Source]:
MORRIS — A former Morris priest charged with possessing pornographic images of children on computers has pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement.
John Lloyd Caskey, 53, was charged earlier this year in Stevens County District Court with 20 counts of possessing child pornography.
He pleaded guilty Wednesday to the first three counts and admitted possessing the images of minors, according to Stevens County Attorney Charles Glasrud.
Based on sentencing guidelines, it’s likely Caskey will received a stayed sentence and will be placed on probation, Glasrud said.
Caskey is expected to be sentenced in October, Glasrud said.
Caspkey was facing five years in prison and/ or a $5,000 fine for each count.
Caskey was priest at Assumption Church in Morris and associate pastor in Chokio and Herman. He was officially installed Sept. 16, 2007. He left Assumption in December 2007.
After being charged, Caskey was released on conditions, which included that he may not possess pornography, he is to have no contact, supervised or unsupervised with anyone under the age of 18 and no access to computers or the Internet.
Daniel Eller, Caskey’s attorney, reported earlier this year that the St. Cloud Diocese arranged for Caskey to be evaluated at Saint Luke Institute, a part of the Maryknoll Center in Silver Springs, Md.
The center was to complete a four-day evaluation of Caskey.
John Kinney, Bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud, said earlier this year that Caskey was relieved of his duties as a priest when Kinney learned of the charges.
“I was taken by surprise by these allegations,” Kinney said in his statement at the time. “I have not received any complaints in the past about (Father) Caskey from any of the parishes he has served nor have I had any information that would cause me to be concerned.”
Caskey served three years as Associate Priest at Assumption in the early 1980s before moving on to several other assignments. Over 25 years, Caskey has served as a military chaplain and as a pastor in numerous communities, including Browns Valley, Browerville and Clarissa.
The complaint against Caskey stated that in September 2007, the Stevens County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint that an 18-year-old male had received anonymous, obscene and suggestive letters.
The investigation led Sheriff Randy Willis to interview Caskey on Nov. 30. Caskey admitted sending the letter, but “He denied that he’d done anything like this for many years,” the complaint stated.
Caskey also signed a consent allowing law enforcement to search his home and work computers. Capt. David Wyffels, of the Willmar Police Department conducted a forensic examination of the hard drives from the computers.
Wyffels’ investigation revealed a “large number” of pornographic images on his home computer, and it was concluded that the images were entered into the computer while it was under his control. The images were almost exclusively of males, many depicting persons “obviously” under age 18, according to the complaint.
Wyffel’s investigation showed that some files had been deleted, leaving only partial images on the hard drive. In all, 8,671 “suspect” images were given to the Stevens County Sheriff’s Office for review, the complaint states.
Descriptions of the images in the complaint indicate that the images depict minors engaged in explicit sexual acts or poses, according to the complaint.
“The possession of this volume of such material, and the manner of its storage demonstrates knowledge by Defendant of the material’s contents,” the complaint states.
Kinney stated that he is “committed to the safety of all those entrusted to our care. I take that responsibility seriously and have taken many steps to ensure that our children and others are safe.”
