Category: Priests In Trouble

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‘If there is a hell, you deserve to be first in line,’ victims speak in former priest’s sentencing

By Benjamin Raven

Photos of James Rapp sit on the table during the sentencing hearing for James Rapp at the Jackson County Circuit Court on April 29, 2016.
Photos of James Rapp sit on the table during the sentencing hearing for James Rapp at the Jackson County Circuit Court on April 29, 2016.

JACKSON, MI — James Rapp’s Friday, April 29 sentencing wasn’t just about how long the former high school priest and coach would spend in prison.

It was about giving the 75-year-old former Jackson Lumen Christi High School priest’s victims a chance to tell their stories and confront the man they once viewed as an authoritative, respected figure.

Six of James Rapp’s victims provided gripping, detailed testimonials of how the former priest and coach abused them and affected their lives. Some remained anonymous, but others made the choice to make themselves known in court.

Rapp, who is currently serving a 40-year prison term in Oklahoma where he pleaded no contest to lewd molestation, was sentenced to up to 40 more years in prison by Jackson County Circuit Judge Susan Beebe.

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Andrew Russell delivers a speech during the sentencing hearing for James Rapp at the Jackson County Circuit Court on April 29, 2016.

He pleaded no contest to three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in February. As part of a plea agreement, 13 charges of criminal sexual conduct were dismissed.

Photos of victims were placed on a table in front of Beebe and in plain sight of Rapp, his attorney Alfred Brandt and Assistant Attorney General Angela Povilaitis, who prosecuted the case.

The case was prosecuted by the Attorney General Cold Case Sexual Assault Project, with Povilaitis sitting.

“These victims were robbed of their childhood and that can never be undone,” Attorney General Bill Schuette said in a press release.

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Chuck Schickler speaks during the sentencing hearing for James Rapp at the Jackson County Circuit Court on April 29, 2016.

Each time one of the six men approached the stand, their eyes locked with versions of their younger selves.

Some victim statements were short, some long, some were prepared while others came off the cuff.

“Looking at that picture in front of me from 1984, and I wonder who I could have been,” Andrew Russell said, without a prepared statement. “His crime and position was a murder on my soul. He’s a monster and his path of destruction extends far further than it ever should have.”

Russell went on to say that he never thought getting kicked out of Lumen Christi would be the “best thing that ever happened to me.” Rapp served as a priest, teacher, maintenance supervisor and coach during his time at Lumen Christi from 1980-86.

Russell claims he was dismissed from the school the year after he presented the allegations to Rev. Joseph Coyle, Lumen Christi High School’s first principal. He claims he didn’t get a formal hearing in front of a committee when he was dismissed, just a visit to Coyle’s office.

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Jackson Circuit Court Judge Susan Beebe delivers the sentence during the sentencing hearing for James Rapp at the Jackson County Circuit Court on April 29, 2016.

Another victim, John C. Wood, came forward with additional allegations against Lumen Christi administrators’ alleged transgressions. Wood cited a school wrestling trip to Detroit where the team stayed in a diocese-owned dormitory.

Wood was paired to share a room with Rapp, and said the wrestling coach “said the Lord’s Prayer on his knees, got in bed with me and had his way.”

Some time after the event had passed, Wood told his parents and the allegations made their way to Coyle. Wood said Coyle made him tell him what happened under confession rather than in a formal hearing or in his office.

“‘Some sins are so awful, we cannot talk about them,'” he said Coyle told him in Latin. “I was told I would go to hell if I ever talked about what I said in confessional.

“Well, if I’m going to hell for being here today, I’ll see Coyle there and we can talk about it some more.”

Wood claimed that Rapp was gone three days later, with the story that he was sent to help another parish. He said his family was told this was an isolated incident and Rapp would never be allowed around children again.

Rapp’s investigation started in 2013 after two men came forward to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. He was ordained in 1959, went on to work in Philadelphia from 1959-61; Salt Lake City from 1968-73 and Lockport, N.Y. from 1979-80 before coming to Lumen Christi. After that, he went to Naperville, Ill. from 1987-90; and Duncan, Okla. from 1990-98.

Each of the victims met Thursday night, April 28, in what Russell described as “a hell of a club to belong to.” While each victim’s story and tone differed, they all thanked Povilaitis and Jackson County Sheriff Detective Sergeant Tim Schlundt for their handling of the investigation.

Victim A, a man who chose to remain anonymous, compared Rapp to a reptilian predator and said the only equally tragic aspect is in the way the Catholic Church handled these crimes.

“There was collusion at Lumen Christi. It was my teachers against me. I felt like I could be hunted on any given day in my school, plucked from any given class,” he said during Friday’s proceedings. “His network of colleagues allowed him to facilitate his activities; they watched him pull boys out of class unquestioned.

“Other priests, even those who have passed away but are officially honored at Lumen Christi with charitable societies bearing their names, all knew about the raping of Lumen Christi boys. Their cover-up will be exposed, soon enough.”

Victim A went on to say that his “true losses are incalculable,” and when it comes to intensive therapy to combat his PTSD and other struggles, the Catholic Diocese has not offered a “single penny” of support.

He wasn’t the only victim to shed light on medical issues as Victim J, another man who chose not to reveal his name, stepped forward to admit he attempted suicide in the 1980s and had issues with substance abuse.

“Sober for 13-years in about a month,” he said, as Beebe congratulated him. “I’m almost 50 years old, but part of me is stuck being a 15-year-old boy trying to figure out where my life went.”

Complete Article HERE!

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Retired priest accused of exposing himself to a minor, charged

Father Richard Thomas

 

GREEN BAY — A local retired priest faces multiple charges after he allegedly exposed himself to a minor.

Father Richard Thomas, 78, of Green Bay, was charged with four felonies Thursday.

The Green Bay Catholic Diocese released the following statement:

The Diocese of Green Bay received a report of misconduct involving Father Richard Thomas, a diocesan priest. Upon receiving this report, the diocese notified civil authorities. Following the policies of the Diocesan Code of Pastoral Conduct, Father Thomas, a senior (retired) priest, has been restricted from performing any public ministry pending the outcome of the civil authorities’ investigation. This is an ongoing investigation and the Diocese is fully cooperating. The Diocese asks for prayers for all involved in this matter. The Diocese remains committed to the protection of children and vulnerable adults. Its policies include permanently removing from ministry any clergy who have a substantiated allegation of abuse of a minor against them. In addition, the Diocese requires all clergy, employees, and volunteers in all parishes, schools and diocesan offices to complete mandatory background checks and training on keeping children safe. Since 2003, 35,284 background checks have been completed and 37,054 people have completed the “VIRTUS – Protecting God’s Children” program. (Data reported October 2015) If you know of an incident of sexual abuse of a person who is now under the age of 18 by a priest, deacon, employee or volunteer, please immediately call the civil authorities and then the diocese.

Complete Article HERE!

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Three Franciscan priests ordered to stand trial in sex abuse case

This combination of file photos shows Giles Schinelli, left, Anthony Criscitelli, center, and Robert D'Aversa, when they were arraigned on charges of child endangerment and criminal conspiracy at a district magistrate in Hollidaysburg, Pa.
This combination of file photos shows Giles Schinelli, left, Anthony Criscitelli, center, and Robert D’Aversa, when they were arraigned on charges of child endangerment and criminal conspiracy at a district magistrate in Hollidaysburg, Pa.

By Peter Smith

Hours of testimony and legal jousting led to a quick conclusion Wednesday afternoon when a judge ordered three Franciscan priests to stand trial on charges of conspiracy and endangering the welfare of children for their oversight of a sexually abusive friar.

Blair County District Judge Paula Aigner made the ruling without elaborating after a prosecutor argued that the three put hundreds of children in harm’s way over nearly two decades by assigning the late Brother Stephen Baker to work among them.

“The safety of children was on the line,” Deputy Attorney General Daniel Dye said during closing arguments. The friar’s supervisors responded as a “bureaucracy,” he said, informing their insurance company but not Baker’s supervisors or parents at Bishop McCort Catholic High School in Johnstown. They decided “how much risk was appropriate to expose other people’s children to,” he said.

Defense lawyers countered that the priests knew little of what is now known about Baker’s attacks — and that they acted responsibly on what they knew.

“It’s easy to Monday-morning quarterback and say Baker was a disgusting man,” said Charles Porter, representing the Very Rev. Giles Schinelli. But, he said, “there is no evidence of any conspiracy.”

But Mr. Porter said afterward he wasn’t surprised by the decision because the burden of proof to send a case to trial is lower than for a conviction, which would require proof beyond reasonable doubt.

The hearing took place at Blair County Courthouse. Judge Aigner set a June 3 arraignment date. She also rejected motions to dismiss the cases under the statute of limitations.

All three of the defendants are former ministers provincial for the Franciscan Friars, Third Order Regulars of the Immaculate Conception Province, based here in Hollidaysburg. In addition to Father Schinelli (who led the order from 1986 to 1994), the other defendants are the Very Revs. Robert J. D’Aversa (1994-2002) and Anthony Criscitelli (2002-2010).

They sat wordlessly behind their attorneys during the proceedings, dressed in black clerical garb.

Baker committed suicide in January 2013 at the Hollidaysburg monastery when the enormity of his offenses became publicly known. Authorities now say he molested more than 100 children in Johnstown and elsewhere, but this case hinges on what his supervisors knew and when they knew it.

Attorneys for the three Franciscans aggressively cross-examined the investigators who testified in the case. The lawyers argued there is no evidence among the 8,000 pages of internal Franciscan documents seized by authorities that show the three ever sat down together to talk about what they knew of Baker’s assaults and how to handle him.

Special Agent Jessica Eger of the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation maintained that Father Schinelli knew of an allegation against Baker in the early 1990s, reported it to the province’s insurance company, but never told officials at Bishop McCort.

Mr. Porter said the allegation was vague and that Father Schinelli referred Baker to a mental health clinic, but that the friar passed the clinic’s psychological evaluation, which found no evidence of sexually deviant tendencies.

Still, Mr. Dye said no parents, aware of such facts, would have consented to having their child taught by Baker if they had known what his superiors knew.

Father Schinelli assigned Baker to work as religion teacher at Bishop McCort beginning in 1992.

Baker also volunteered as an athletic trainer and molested the athletes he was ostensibly helping with stretching, equipment fitting and therapy.

Baker often used such occasions to grope the players’ private parts and digitally penetrate them anally, according to a grand jury report released in March. A former student testified earlier this month that Baker molested him so many times it came to seem normal and that many fellow students talked of similar experiences.

Retired Bishop McCort High School Principal William Rushin testified that no one told him when he hired Baker in 1992 of any allegation against him, and that he received a positive reference from John F. Kennedy Catholic High School near Youngstown, Ohio — where Baker taught and where victims later came forward.

Mr. Rushin said he never hired any staff member with such an allegation against him.

Father D’Aversa removed Baker from the school in 2000 after another allegation surfaced from an earlier Baker assignment in Minnesota. But Father D’Aversa appointed him as vocations director, giving him regular access to children, including on overnight retreats.

Robert Ridge, representing Father D’Aversa, argued that his client did put numerous restrictions on him.

Even after concerns grow and Father D’Aversa removed Baker from that assignment, Baker continued to work at the Friar Shop — a gift store at the Altoona Mall — and to volunteer at St. Clare of Assisi Church in Johnstown.

“That’s endangering children in the mall,” testified Special Agent Eger. But attorney James Kraus, representing Father Criscitelli, disputed the idea that “you are endangering children by allowing someone to go in public.”

Ms. Eger also said that even though Father Criscitelli put Baker on a “safety plan,” the friar’s supervisor in Hollidaysburg went on a sabbatical and there is no evidence anyone else was assigned to mind him. Father Criscitelli himself was working in Minnesota.

The three priests belong to a tiny group — also consisting of a Missouri bishop and a Philadelphia monsignor — who have ever been charged with covering up for an abuser.

Afterward, a victim’s advocate watching the court proceedings said he was “thrilled” with the judge’s ruling.

“One of the things victims have been waiting for is for the criminal courts to be able to judge these matters,” said Robert Hoatson, a former priest and director of the New Jersey victim support group Road to Recovery.

Complete Article HERE!

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Oklahoma City archbishop ‘assessing situation’ after concerns raised about Lawton priest

by Carla Hinton

A Roman Catholic leader said Monday he is “assessing the situation” regarding a Lawton priest who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor involving a young woman.

Paul S. Coakley, archbishop

The Most Rev. Paul S. Coakley, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, issued the second of two prepared statements about the Rev. Jose Alexis Davila on Monday evening.

Father+Jose+Alexis+Davila

The archbishop’s remarks came as some parishioners of Lawton’s Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church began voicing their concerns about Davila after news of his misdemeanor surfaced recently.

Diane Clay, archdiocesan spokeswoman, said Coakley had received emails and telephone calls from some parishioners of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church about Davila after recent media reports that Davila pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in 2012 in San Diego.

Clay said most of the parishioners voicing their uneasiness were those whose children attend St. Mary’s Catholic School in Lawton. Clay said as pastor or parish priest of a church tied to a school, the priest is part of the school environment.

In his prepared statement released Monday evening, Coakley said he wanted to ensure that people felt safe.

“It is important that we operate in an open environment where people in our parishes and institutions feel safe and welcome to practice their faith. In regard to Father Davila, we are assessing the situation,” Coakley said. “Those who work in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City — priests, staff, teachers, employees and volunteers — understand they are required to follow the strict policies and procedures in place to create and maintain a safe environment — no exceptions.”

He said his staff conducted a full investigation of Davila before the priest was appointed to serve as an associate pastor of Blessed Sacrament in December 2015.

Clay said in March, Davila was moved from the Lawton parish to Elgin as administrator when one of the archdiocese’s international priests returned home. She said he continued helping at Lawton’s Blessed Sacrament, however, and Coakley recently appointed him to serve as the church’s pastor, effective in June.

Clay said before coming to Oklahoma, Davila pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in 2012 in San Diego and was sentenced to probation for three years and community service, which he completed. In 2015, San Diego Superior Court granted Davila a petition for relief, which officially withdrew his plea of guilty and dismissed the accusation against him.

Meanwhile, a victims’ group is dissatisfied with Coakley’s rationale for employing Davila.

Coakley said his staff’s investigation of Davila included a background check and lengthy interviews of leaders from Davila’s former employers in the dioceses where he served.

“While Father Davila’s actions with an adult parishioner five years ago occurred in the presence of others at his office in California, he understands that those actions were perceived as inappropriate. He accepted the consequences of his lapse in judgment,” Coakley said in his initial prepared statement released Saturday.

However, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a support group for clergy abuse victims, said Coakley’s remarks about Davila are “misleading.”

David Clohessy, St. Louis director of SNAP, said Monday that he believed Coakley’s statement included several “deceptive” points. Clohessy said his group takes exception to Coakley describing the San Diego incident regarding Davila and a 19-year-old female parishioner as a “lapse in judgment” and “perceived as inappropriate.” The group claims the incident was “criminal and hurtful.”

The archbishop’s statement released Saturday reads as follows:

“It is important that we operate in an open environment where people in our parishes and institutions feel safe and welcome to practice their faith. While Father Davila’s actions with an adult parishioner five years ago occurred in the presence of others at his office in California, he understands that those actions were perceived as inappropriate. He accepted the consequences of his lapse in judgment.

“Without excusing or justifying his behavior, I think he can now safely and appropriately return to ministry. Some actions such as the sexual abuse of a child are so grievous that the perpetrator must be permanently removed from ministry. This was not one of those actions.

“Before allowing him to serve in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, my staff conducted a full investigation, including a criminal-background check, probationary period and lengthy interviews with leaders from dioceses in which Father Davila has served. Father Davila has been open and forthcoming about his experience. He is committed to the strict code of ethical conduct expected in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, and he understands — as do all of our priests, staff, teachers, employees and volunteers — that they are required to follow the policies and procedures in place to create a safe environment — no exceptions.”

The San Diego Union Tribune reported in January 2012 that Davila initially pleaded not guilty to three counts of misdemeanor sexual battery stemming from accusations that he inappropriately touched a young woman at his San Diego home.

The news outlet said the priest was serving at St. Jude’s Shrine of the West when the accusations were made. The Union Tribune reported that 50 supporters showed up in San Diego Superior Court to support Davila at his arraignment.

The newspaper reported that the case was referred to the district attorney’s office for review, but the office rejected it and the matter was forwarded to the city attorney’s office, which handles misdemeanor prosecutions in San Diego.

Complete Article HERE!

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Catholic Diocese of Yakima won’t list names of abusers on website

By Jane Gargas

The Lay Advisory Board of the Catholic Diocese of Yakima will not be listing the names of local clergy on its website who have had credible claims of sexual abuse leveled against them.

The board last month discussed listing priests’ names on the diocesan website and took no action nor made any recommendations to Bishop Joseph Tyson.Joseph J. Tyson

The seven-member group, which meets quarterly, investigates any allegations of sexual misconduct in the local Catholic church.

The subject arose after the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle published a list of clergy and other church personnel accused of sexually abusing children on its website in January. The 77 names were those who either admitted abuse, had credible claims made against them or claims established to be true, the Seattle Archdiocese said.

In an email sent last week to the Yakima Herald-Republic, Monsignor Robert Siler, Yakima Diocese chancellor, explained that the lay advisory board concluded that the names of credibly accused priests here already had been made public, either released in notices by the diocese, listed in this newspaper or named in the legal system.

“While the Bishop will continue to consult widely (including the Board) as to the advisability of making any further public release of names, the Diocese does not see a pressing need to do so at the present time,” Siler wrote.

He added that the Diocese is continuing to provide safe-environment training to its clergy, employees and volunteers, as well as provide care for victims and investigate any cases of alleged sexual abuse.

Since 2003, the Herald-Republic has published the names of 16 priests and church personnel, who served in the Yakima Diocese and who were determined to have credible allegations of abuse of minors made against them. Ten are deceased, and none is still active in the ministry.

Complete Article HERE!