Sexual abuse

FILE - In this Spet. 19, 1988 file photo Rev. Joseph Hart dispenses communion during an outdoor Mass celebrated for participants of the Basque Festival in Buffalo, Wyo. On Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2020 the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith cleared retired Cheyenne, Wyoming Bishop Hart of seven accusations of abuse, determined that five others couldn’t be proven “with moral certitude” and that two cases involving boys, who were 16 and 17, couldn’t be prosecuted given the Catholic Church didn’t consider them minors at the time of the alleged abuse, the diocese said. (AP Photo/Dean Wariner, File)

Vatican clears retired US bishop of multiple abuse claims

Jan. 26, 2021 4:41 PM EST

DENVER (AP) — The Vatican has cleared a retired U.S. bishop of multiple allegations he sexually abused minors and teenagers, rejecting lay experts' determination that a half-dozen claims were credible and instead slapping him on the wrist for what it called “flagrant" imprudent behavior. The...

FILE - In this July 2, 2020, file photo, Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell during a news conference in New York. Maxwell, a British socialite charged with recruiting girls for financier Epstein to sexually abuse in the 1990s, is asking a judge to dismiss the case on multiple grounds. A trial is scheduled for July 2021. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Epstein's ex-girlfriend seeks dismissal of charges she faces

Jan. 26, 2021 12:55 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — A British socialite charged with recruiting teenage girls for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse in the 1990s asked a judge Monday to dismiss the case on multiple grounds, including that a deal years ago not to prosecute Epstein and others should shield her from prosecution....

FILE - In this May 9, 2019, file photo, Father Michael Pfleger speaks at Saint Sabina Catholic Church, in Chicago. In a letter written to the Saint Sabina community, Chicago Cardinal Blasé Cupich announced Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021, he has asked Pfleger to step aside from his ministry following receipt of a sexual abuse allegation of a minor by Pfleger more than 40 years earlier. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Brothers accuse prominent Chicago priest of sexual abuse

Jan. 25, 2021 7:20 PM EST

CHICAGO (AP) — Two brothers in their 60s on Monday described years of sexual abuse by a firebrand activist priest who has gained fame speaking out on national politics from the pulpit and for taking on drug dealers in South Side neighborhoods around his Chicago church. The abuse began in the 1970s when...

FILE - This Feb. 27, 2018, file photo, Israeli-born Australian Malka Leifer, right, is brought to a courtroom in Jerusalem. Israel's Supreme Court on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, rejected an appeal challenging the extradition of Leifer, a former teacher wanted in Australia accused of sexually abusing several former students at a Jewish school in Melbourne, clearing the way for her to stand trial after a six-year legal saga. Leifer is currently on a plane to Australia, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, File)

Israel extradites woman wanted for sex crimes to Australia

Jan. 25, 2021 9:12 AM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli authorities on Monday extradited a former teacher accused of sexually abusing her former students in Australia, capping a six-year legal battle that had strained relations between the two governments and antagonized Australia's Jewish community. Malka Leifer, who is wanted on 74...

Australian of the Year winner Grace Tame raises her award during a ceremony in Canberra, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. Tame, 26, pushed for legal changes so she could speak out about being a survivor of the sexual abuse she went through as a 15-year-old at the hands of a math teacher. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)

Abuse survivor Grace Tame named Australian of the Year

Jan. 25, 2021 5:55 AM EST

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A 26-year-old woman who pushed for legal changes so she could speak out about being a survivor of sexual abuse has been named Australian of the Year for her advocacy work on behalf of abuse survivors. Grace Tame was presented with the award at a ceremony in Canberra on Monday....

Israel extradites Malka Leifer, former teacher wanted on child sex abuse charges, to Australia after 6-year legal battle

Jan. 25, 2021 2:02 AM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel extradites Malka Leifer, former teacher wanted on child sex abuse charges, to Australia after 6-year legal battle.

French leader tells child sex abuse victims 'we believe you'

Jan. 23, 2021 1:16 PM EST

PARIS (AP) — Amid a national French reckoning with sexual abuse of children by family members, President Emmanuel Macron told victims Saturday: “We believe you. You will never again be alone.” The French government pledged on Thursday to toughen laws on the rape of children after a massive...

FILE - In this file photo dated Friday, June 22, 2018, protesters demonstrate while blocking the street outside the Justice Ministry in Madrid, Spain. The first comprehensive internal inquiry on sex abuse allegations by a religious order in Spain has identified 81 children and 37 adult victims by 96 Jesuits since the late 1920s, in a report released Friday Jan. 22, 2021, but associations of victims say it falls short of identifying perpetrators or those who covered up the abuses. (AP Photo/Paul White, FILE)

In a first for Spain, Jesuits admit to decades of sex abuse

Jan. 22, 2021 1:52 PM EST

MADRID (AP) — The first comprehensive internal inquiry on sex abuse allegations by a religious order in Spain has identified 81 children and 37 adult victims of 96 Jesuits since the late 1920s, a much higher number than the cases that had so far been publicly known. Associations of victims are welcoming...

This undated photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff's Office shows David Pasulka. Pasulka a prominent Chicago family law attorney who was charged last summer with sexually assaulting a colleague has been charged with doing the same thing to two other women. Prosecutors outlined the new charges of of sexual assault, aggravated sex assault and criminal sexual abuse against Pasulka during a court hearing Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (Cook County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Chicago family law attorney charged with more sex crimes

Jan. 21, 2021 5:23 PM EST

CHICAGO (AP) — A prominent Chicago family law attorney who was charged last summer with sexually assaulting a colleague has been charged with doing the same thing to two other women, including a client who says he told her that if he didn't have sex with him, she'd lose custody of her children. Prosecutors...

French victims of child abuse speak out in new #MeToo wave

Jan. 21, 2021 12:58 PM EST

PARIS (AP) — “I was 9. ... It was my father. He raped me until I was 17.” The French government pledged on Thursday to toughen laws on the rape of children after a massive online movement saw hundreds of victims share accounts about sexual abuse within their families. The move comes in the...

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