Providence Priest Arrested for Child Porn by RI State Police

By GoLocalProv New Team

Father James Jackson of St. Mary’s Church at 538 Broadway in Providence was arrested by the Rhode Island State Police’s Police/Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force for Possession of Child Pornography, Transfer of Child Pornography, and Child Erotica Prohibited.

The Diocese of Providence has not made a comment or issued a statement.

Jackson was arrested on Saturday and the State Police announced the charges on Sunday.

ICAC Task Force members recently initiated an investigation regarding an individual sharing child pornography over the Internet. The Internet connection at St. Mary’s Church, 538 Broadway, Providence, Rhode Island was identified as allegedly connected to the sharing of the child pornography. On Saturday, ICAC Task Force members executed a court-authorized search warrant at St. Mary’s Church and rectory. Father Jackson was identified as the owner of digital media allegedly involved in the possession and transfer of child pornography and child erotica.

Father Jackson was arraigned by Justice of the Peace Steven Crawford and held on $5,000 surety bail. Father Jackson was assigned a future 6th District Court date and ordered the following additional special bail conditions which include no contact with children under 16 and restricted access to the Internet. Father Jackson was unable to post bail and was transported to the ACI Intake facility.

Father Jackson’s most recent sermon posted on the St. Mary’s Church’s website was on humiliation, “Every single human being that has ever lived on this earth, and who ever will live, shall find himself sooner or later in the midst of humiliation. The humiliation that St. David was experiencing when he wrote the 118th Psalm was a terrible and grievous civil war. There was no good news for him, there was no refuge but to flee and hide in caves; everything seemed lost. But he was given hope, and that comforted or strengthened him in his humiliation.”

Father Jackson was arraigned by Justice of the Peace Steven Crawford and held on $5,000 surety bail. Father Jackson was assigned a future 6th District Court date and ordered the following additional special bail conditions which include no contact with children under 16 and restricted access to the Internet. Father Jackson was unable to post bail and was transported to the ACI Intake facility.”

A person found guilty of Possession of Child Pornography may be subject to a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or imprisoned not more than five (5) years, or both. A person found guilty of Transfer of Child Pornography may be subject to a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or imprisoned not more than fifteen (15) years, or both. A person found guilty of Possession of Child Erotica may be subject to a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or imprisoned not more than one (1) year, or both.

The Rhode Island Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force actively engages in investigative efforts to identify subjects involved in child exploitation-related activities. The Rhode Island ICAC Task Force Program is administered by the Rhode Island State Police and supports a national network of multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task forces engaged in investigations, forensic examinations, and prosecutions related to Internet crimes against children and technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation. The Rhode Island ICAC Task Force is comprised of members of the Rhode Island State Police Computer Crimes Unit along with detectives from the Warwick Police Department, East Providence Police Department, North Kingstown Police Department, Portsmouth Police Department, Cranston Police Department, Bristol Police Department, and special agents from Homeland Security Investigations and United States Postal Inspection Services.

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Omaha priest arrested, facing charges of theft, abuse of vulnerable adult

He said he used funds from late priest’s estate to help homeless man after he ran out of his own money to give him.

Rev. Michael F. Gutgsell

By Gina Dvorak

An Omaha priest was arrested Friday morning accused of stealing from an incapacitated retired priest who had willed his estate to the Archdiocese of Omaha, saying he was giving the money to a homeless man.

The Rev. Michael F. Gutgsell was arrested at 7:35 a.m. Friday and taken to Douglas County Jail. He appeared in court Friday afternoon to face charges of theft and abuse, and was released on his own recognizance.

His preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 24.

Gutgsell’s attorney released a statement following Friday’s hearing:

“Since learning of an open criminal investigation, Fr. Michael Gutgsell has fully cooperated with law enforcement. Fr. Gutgsell made arrangements to turn himself in as required by statute immediately upon his knowledge and confirmation of an arrest warrant.

We are saddened and disappointed in the filing of charges by the Douglas County Attorney. We will await the outcome of the pending investigation and allow the justice system to work. We are confident as these claims continue to be thoroughly investigated that an appropriate and positive outcome will be forthcoming. We ask for patience and privacy during this process and extend our sincere appreciation for those that have supported Fr. Gutgsell throughout these difficult times.”

According to court documents, Gutgsell is accused of stealing $154,732 from an individual between Oct. 12, 2018, and January 2020. He faces two Class 3A felony charges: theft of $5,000 or more and abuse of a vulnerable adult.

Father Gutgsell had been the priest at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Springfield, Neb., until July 2021.

Court documents state that Sarpy County auditors had found “irregularities” in the church finances, specifically that the Gutgsell had the bookkeeper write out 76 checks, totaling about $123,000, to the priest between October 2019 and July 2021.

The Archdiocese of Omaha called him in for an interview on Aug. 2, at which time he admitted to taking $180,000, saying he was giving the money to a homeless man he had met in May 2013 while he was a pastor at St. Cecelia Cathedral Church in Omaha.

Subpoenaed bank records found Gutgsell had written 111 checks, totaling $167,382, to himself from the account of a retired priest who had died in December 2019 and willed his estate to the Archdiocese of Omaha. Gutgsell, who was made power of attorney or personal representative on the retired priest’s accounts in January 2017, also made 14 other cash withdrawals totaling $11,660, documents state. With access to retirement and brokerage accounts, Gutgsell used the funds to write himself checks. He also purchased about $50,000 in mutual funds in November 2019, court records show.

Gutgsell said he gave the money to a homeless man he had been giving his own money to, noting that the man disappeared for three months about three months after they met, documents state. When the man reappeared, he again asked for money. At one point the man said he would reimburse Gutgsell using a Social Security disability account that was being withheld from him. The priest said over time he paid $250,000 from his own personal funds before eventually draining his banking, retirement, and insurance accounts.

The pastor told investigators that he believed the homeless man, who was not Catholic or a member of his parish, to be a very sick homeless man who needed his help, recounting stories the man had told him about how he had helped police by “breaking up fights and stopping shoplifters,” court records state. But there was always a “complication” that would arise delaying the man’s disability payout in order to reimburse Gutgsell.

Court documents state that in early 2017 and again in October 2019, Gutgsell began taking money from the archdiocese when he began running out of his own funds. He said he had been working to pay back the money, reimbursing about $19,000.

In total, the pastor said he had given the man about $700,000 from May 2013 to July 2021, records state.

This summer the archdiocese directed Gutgsell to resign as the pastor of St. Joseph’s and placed him on indefinite administrative leave.

“The Rev Michael F. Gutgsell was recently charged by the Douglas County Attorney for attempted theft by unlawful taking and vulnerable adult abuse. Both of these charges are Class IIIA felonies.

The Archdiocese of Omaha will have no comment since the matter now belongs to law enforcement and the judicial system.”

Complete Article HERE!

French actor breaks silence on child sex abuse within church

At 8 years old, Laurent Martinez was sexually abused by a priest

Author and actor Laurent Martinez gestures as he speaks during an interview with The Associated-Press at “Theo Theater” in Paris, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. French author and actor Laurent Martinez has been sexually abused by a priest. Over forty years later, he has chosen to make his story a theater play to show the devastating consequences and how speaking out can help overcoming the trauma. The play called “Pardon?” is deeply inspired from the Martinez’s own life, describing how he felt devoured from the inside and the difficulties of daily life after being abused.

By SYLVIE CORBET

At the age of eight, Laurent Martinez was sexually abused by a priest. Forty years later, he has chosen to make his story into a play, to show the devastating consequences and how speaking out can help victims heal and rebuild.

The play called “Pardon?” is drawn from the French author and actor’s own life, describing how he felt devoured from the inside by the abuse and struggled with daily life after it.

Despite the shocking revelations, Martinez deplored that “there is no — absolutely no — sense of urgency” within the church.

“They are clearly slammed by the numbers” but “they are just talking, talking, talking,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

For Martinez, now 52, memories of the abuse remain vivid.

The priest who was teaching his catechism classes found pretexts to see the 8-year-old Martinez alone, kissing and touching his genitals, he said. One day, Martinez recalls, the abuser invited him to his apartment and forced the boy to engage in oral sex. Under French law, that would be classified as rape.

Martinez later told his parents, who alerted the diocese, and the priest was moved away. He believes the priest is now dead. Like most victims of sex abuse in the church, particularly before the church abuse scandals of the 2000s, Martinez didn’t seek legal recourse. Now it would be too late because of statutes of limitations.

For decades, Martinez buried the abuse inside him, only speaking about it to his two wives.

“For me, sexual relationships were marked in me as something forbidden. So it’s been very difficult for me to go through it, and I had to find very patient partners,” he said.

The play shows how the abuse affected his emotional and sexual life as an adult, making him sometimes grow aggressive or overreact to everyday worries — but also how it led him to be very protective towards children.

Martinez said he spent 40 years “wearing the mask of someone else” and “seeking to hide something that was like a cancer inside me.”

A few years ago, he felt he needed to speak out because he was fed up with keeping the trauma inside him.

“I thought: I need to do something. It’s not possible to continue like that,” he said.

The play was shown for the first time at the Avignon arts festival in 2019. That is also when he first told his two sons, now 21 and 11, about the abuse. Since then, Martinez’s play has been playing in theaters in Paris and across France and a performance of it was shown on France’s Catholic television network KTO.

“I’ve been in pain for so long, and now I’m an actor so … I’m acting my pain. I’m not in it anymore,” he said.

In recent weeks, Martinez, who lost his faith following the abuse, made a new, decisive step. After much hesitation, he asked the head of the Conference of Bishops of France, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, whether he could seek Martinez’ forgiveness in the name of his abuser.

“He accepted and it was tremendous emotionally for everybody that night,” Martinez remembers. “I gave my forgiveness to the priest that raped me.”

After that, “I felt really completely free of the whole burden of anger, of the desire of revenge. All the bad feelings I had just had vanished, just because I had forgiven,” he said.

“Little by little the trauma is disappearing,” Martinez added. “What helped more was to be able to forgive the priest.”

The actor had been previously in touch with Moulins-Beaufort, who supported the play and offered to show it to French bishops as part of the church’s efforts to face up to shameful secrets that were long covered up.

The offer is evidence of the Catholic hierarchy’s belated realization that listening to survivors is a fundamental part of the church’s own process of coming to terms with the problem and helping them heal.

Pope Francis came to that realization at a 2019 summit he convened with the heads of all the world’s bishops conferences, which featured wrenching testimonies from victims about abuse and the lifelong trauma it caused. For many bishops, it was the first time they had ever actually listened to a survivor, since so often the church ignored victims or treated them as an enemy out to harm the institution.

Among many recommendations in last week’s report about church abuse in France are measures that would institutionalize ways for church hierarchy to better help and hear victims. The report estimates that at least 2,900-3,200 male clergy members were responsible for sexual abuse of children in France since the 1950s, and accuses the church of a systemic coverup.

Martinez knows that his play is helping other people who suffered similar ordeals, and hopes it encourages them to speak out and seek help.

Some “come to see me and say: ‘Thank you so much, because, you know, this is also my story. And you are the first person I’m telling that to.’”

“The most difficult thing is to say it once,” Martinez stressed. “Then you get the strength to say it again and again and again. And then you’re free, or at least you are on the good path to freedom.”

Complete Article HERE!

Limerick priest compares aspects of the Church to the Taliban

Fr Roy O’Donovan

By Donal O’Regan

A LIMERICK priest has compared the Catholic Church to the Taliban on how they both treat women.

Fr Roy Donovan, parish priest of Caherconlish and Inch St. Laurence, has spoken out following a recent statement from Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy.

It was titled, “Change taking shape as greater lay involvement in the Church emerges”. The bishop also asked for expressions of interest from men over 35 years of age, married or single, interested in taking up roles as permanent deacons.

Fr Donovan said Bishop Leahy’s intention of introducing the male Diaconate into the diocese is a “return to the dark ages”.

“In recent weeks we have learned of the Taliban’s negative attitudes to women in Afghanistan, that of exclusion from education and the public domain.

“In the Catholic Church, women are excluded from the hierarchial (patriarchial) structures – no woman can be ordained a deacon, priest, bishop, cardinal or pope. Women are excluded from leadership, governance and decision making in the Church.

“Women have no vote in the upcoming Bishops’ Synod 2023 on Synodality. The Catholic Church at many levels, like the Taliban, treats women as second-class citizens,” said Fr Donovan, who is originally from Knockarron, Emly and served for many years in Dublin.

In his statement, Bishop Leahy said deacons had a ministry in the early Church which focused on service, both within the church community helping in the administration of the diocese and in reaching out to the marginalised in society.

Fr Donovan said up until the 12th century, the Catholic Church ordained women deacons, although by then their service was mostly restricted to women’s monasteries.

“Some Orthodox churches that split from the Catholic Church in the 11th century still do. In the New Testament Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul introduces Phoebe as a ‘deacon of the church at Cenchreae’.

“He also names Priscilla and Junia and several other women leaders,” said Fr Donovan, who is one of the leaders of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) but is speaking in a personal capacity.

The priest said this move towards male deacons “raises questions about how women in the Limerick Synod have allowed this to go forward or have they?”

“It also raises questions about having a meaningful Synod in the Irish Church. Men in every diocese in Ireland and throughout the world should join in solidarity with women and refuse the male Diaconate,” concluded Fr Donovan.

Complete Article HERE!

Years into attorney general probe of Maryland Catholic church, survivors wonder where it stands

Liz Murphy is a survivor of abuse at the former Catholic Community middle school in Baltimore in the 1970s.

By Alison Knezevich

Three years after it became public that Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh was investigating child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, abuse survivors are wondering: Is he building a case or has the probe stalled?

In September 2018, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori told clergy the archdiocese was under investigation by the state. A few months later, church officials confirmed they had given the attorney general more than 50,000 pages of internal documents dating to 1965.

But to this day, Frosh has not provided details on the investigation, which members of his office say is ongoing.

“Honestly, I’m shocked that it would take this long to charge anybody or find anything,” said Liz Murphy, who was interviewed twice in 2018 by an investigator with the attorney general’s office about the abuse she suffered at a Catholic school in South Baltimore in the 1970s.

The lack of a conclusion to the investigation stands in contrast to a two-year examination in Pennsylvania that resulted in an explosive grand jury report in 2018. It said more than 300 priests abused more than 1,000 children in that state and named church leaders who protected them and helped cover up accusations.

State legislators changed laws related to abuse investigations and how long victims have to file lawsuits. As a result of the report, about 150 lawsuits have been filed against Pennsylvania’s eight dioceses.

Three Catholic dioceses operate in Maryland. A spokesman for the Diocese of Wilmington, which includes Maryland’s Eastern Shore, said it was notified of Frosh’s investigation and is cooperating.

The Archdiocese of Washington, which includes the D.C. suburbs and Southern Maryland, did not respond to a request for comment.

Frosh, a Democrat, did not announce the review; it took Lori’s statements to make it public.

Raquel Coombs, a spokeswoman for Frosh, recently told the Baltimore Sun that the probe is “an ongoing criminal investigation.”

Coombs said the office has conducted hundreds of interviews as part of the investigation, which is being overseen by Elizabeth Embry, a special assistant to Frosh. But Coombs said she cannot provide details because it remains open.

Christian Kendzierski, a spokesman for the Baltimore Archdiocese, said church leaders “continue to cooperate with any request from the attorney general’s office or any request from a law enforcement agency.”

He didn’t answer specific questions about whether the church has turned over more documents in the past few years or whether state investigators have interviewed archdiocese personnel.

Murphy and others who have participated in the investigation hoped it would mean some degree of accountability for the nation’s oldest diocese.

In 1995, former Catholic Community middle school teacher John Merzbacher was convicted of raping Murphy when she was a child, in one of Baltimore’s most high-profile abuse cases. Murphy considers the conviction only “half justice,” alleging people in the archdiocese who enabled the teacher at the Locust Point school have never faced charges.

Multiple abuse survivors told the Sun they were interviewed for Maryland’s investigation by Rich Wolf, a former FBI agent who now works in Frosh’s office.

“Everybody I’ve talked to has said he’s very good, he’s very professional, he’s very thorough,” said David Lorenz, the Maryland director for the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Several survivors say when they’ve asked, they, too, have been told the investigation is “ongoing

But with no substantial updates, people are getting frustrated, Lorenz said.

They include Linda Malat Tiburzi, who, like Murphy, alleges she was sexually abused by Merzbacher in the 1970s. Prosecutors dropped charges involving Tiburzi and a dozen others after Merzbacher was given four life sentences for Murphy’s case; he remains in prison on the Eastern Shore.

She said her feelings about the investigation are complicated.

“As more time passes, frustration grows, yet also I remain hopeful,” said Tiburzi, who was interviewed as part of the state investigation. “If this investigation does not produce viable evidence, how can survivors believe in our justice system and have courage to come forward?”

Murphy said with all the evidence already aired in the Merzbacher case, it’s hard for her to understand why the attorney general investigation is taking so long. A Baltimore Sun investigation in 2012 found that court documents indicated Catholic officials knew about Merzbacher’s abuse in the 1970s but didn’t report it at the time.

“They have evidence,” Murphy said.

The Sun typically does not name people who say they’re victims of sexual crimes, but those interviewed for this story agreed to be identified.

Many victims fear that no one believes them, Lorenz said. So, “when the Pennsylvania grand jury report came out there, there were a lot of people who felt like someone was finally on their side and hearing their story.”

“When somebody of authority like an attorney general stands up in front of a press conference and says, ‘I believe these people,’ that’s an amazing, healing thing,” Lorenz said.

The Maryland attorney general’s staff has periodically posted notices on social media, most recently in June, encouraging victims and witnesses of abuse associated with “a school or place of worship” to report that information to Frosh’s office. The notices don’t specify the Catholic Church. The office has received about 300 tips through a hotline and email, Coombs said.

Nationwide, more than 20 state attorneys general have launched investigations of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in recent years, according to Child USA, a Philadelphia-based think tank focused on protecting children from abuse and neglect.

Child USA Legal Director Alice Bohn said these investigations offer the public a window into what went wrong.

The more people know “about how abuse happens, the more prepared we all are to prevent it,” not just in the Catholic Church, but in all institutions that interact with children. “The ultimate hope is for prevention,” Bohn said.

In some states, attorneys general have said they don’t have authority to investigate under their local laws, Bohn said. In other places, criminal charges have resulted.

For instance, the Michigan attorney general’s office has charged 11 people connected to the Catholic Church since launching an investigation in 2018. Four have been convicted.

It is encouraging to many survivors that authorities are conducting the reviews, said Mike McDonnell, spokesman for SNAP.

“We see more evidence produced because of them. We see more individuals named as predators,” McDonnell said. “And most importantly, we are seeing more healing happen for survivors because their stories are being vetted.”

The investigations nationwide have exposed the extent of abuse in the church and helped bolster advocates’ push to change state laws to extend the court deadlines for victims to sue their abusers and pursue criminal charges against them.

This year alone, 14 states have enacted legislation to change statute of limitation laws, according to Child USA.

Maryland has no criminal statute of limitations for felonies, including sexual crimes against children, but limits when someone can sue. Kurt Rupprecht, who has testified in favor of changing Maryland’s abuse laws, said he hoped the attorney general’s investigation would lead to broader changes for survivors, such as lifting the civil statute of limitations.

Rupprecht alleges he was sexually abused at age 9 in 1979 by a priest in Salisbury and violently attacked when he resisted.

He repressed the memories for decades but said he struggled with “manic rage,” suicidal thoughts and self-harm, he said, affecting his family and career.

In 2017, he reported the abuse allegations to the sheriff’s office in Wicomico County. The next year, when the attorney general’s investigation became public, he contacted Frosh’s office and detailed his experience in an interview with Wolf.

“As this has gone well into 2021, I’m concerned that maybe this isn’t going to happen,” Rupprecht said. Still, “I’m hoping for a report — a full report. I hope all the facts come out.”

In being interviewed for a law enforcement investigation, “you are sharing things that are always difficult to share,” said Jean Wehner, who was featured in the 2017 Netflix documentary series “The Keepers.” It examined abuse at Archbishop Keough High School and the unsolved death of Sister Cathy Cesnik.

Wehner said she wanted to participate in the attorney general’s investigation to help other survivors and corroborate their stories, but now feels like she’s been left hanging.

Teresa Lancaster, whose story was also featured in “The Keepers,” said survivors “deserve to know” where the investigation stands.

“How long do we have to wait?” she said.

Complete Article HERE!