Latest Sexual abuse News
Ex-California policeman charged with on-duty sex assaults
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A former Fresno-area police officer has been charged with sexually assaulting four women while on duty, federal prosecutors said Friday. A federal grand jury indictment unsealed Friday charges J. Deshawn Torrence with depriving the women of their...
Abortion ruling prompts variety of reactions from states
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 24 overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that had provided a constitutional right to abortion. The ruling was expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states, although the timing of those laws taking effect varies. Some Republican-led...
Portugal cardinal meets pope as sex abuse allegations swirl
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — The archbishop of Lisbon met Friday with Pope Francis in a private audience at the Vatican to discuss “events in recent weeks that have marked the life of the Church in Portugal,” the Portuguese church said. The two-sentence communique gave no further...
Seven years of sex abuse: How Mormon officials let it happen
BISBEE, Ariz. (AP) — MJ was a tiny, black-haired girl, just 5 years old, when her father admitted to his bishop that he was sexually abusing her. The father, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an admitted pornography addict, was in counseling with his...
4 takeaways from AP's Mormon church sex abuse investigation
When an Arizona bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church, learned that a member of his ward was sexually assaulting his 5-year-old daughter, he followed church policy and called the Mormon Abuse Help Line. The bishop later told law...
Bishop accused in lawsuit of abusing child decades ago
BOSTON (AP) — A former parishioner at a Massachusetts church has filed a lawsuit alleging he was sexually abused as a child more than 30 years ago by a Roman Catholic priest who is now an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Detroit. The plaintiff, identified in court documents...
Ruling leaves questions about Boy Scouts bankruptcy plan
DOVER, Del. (AP) — A Delaware bankruptcy judge has approved parts of the Boy Scouts of America’s reorganization plan but has rejected other provisions, saying in a ruling Friday that the organization has "decisions to make” regarding the plan. Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein...
Pope visits Nunavut for final apology of his Canadian tour
IQALUIT, Nunavut (AP) — Pope Francis traveled to the edge of the Arctic on Friday to deliver an apology to the Inuit people for the “evil” of Canada’s residential schools, wrapping up his week-long “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada with a dramatic visit to the remote territory of...
Neurologist guilty on 12 counts of sexually abusing patients
NEW YORK (AP) — A once-prominent neurologist was found guilty Friday on charges of sexually abusing patients while treating them with pain medications. A New York City jury reached the verdict after deliberating for about three days at the trial of Dr. Ricardo Cruciani. ...
High court allows sex abuse suit against diocese to proceed
BOSTON (AP) — A lawsuit brought by a former altar boy who alleges he was sexually abused as a child in the 1960s by a now-deceased Roman Catholic bishop and other clergy can proceed, the highest court in Massachusetts said in a decision released Thursday. The man from Chicopee...
