Former New Orleans priest, 93, is sentenced to life in prison for raping boy decades ago

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A judge sentenced a 93-year-old former Catholic priest Wednesday to spend the rest of his life behind bars for raping a teenage boy decades ago. Lawrence Hecker had pleaded guilty to charges including first-degree rape and aggravated kidnapping moments before...

US to pay nearly $116M to settle lawsuits over rampant sexual abuse at California women's prison

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government will pay nearly $116 million to resolve lawsuits brought by more than 100 women who say they were abused or mistreated at a now-shuttered federal prison in California that was known as the “rape club” because of rampant staff-on-inmate sexual misconduct. ...

Biathlon official apologizes to athletes who have suffered mistreatment

The secretary general of the International Biathlon Union apologized to any athlete who was mistreated during his tenure at U.S. Biathlon while speaking to a 90-minute meeting Tuesday that focused on concerns about athlete safety brought to light by multiple Associated Press reports. ...

Bureau of Prisons to pay nearly $116M to settle lawsuits following rampant sexual abuse at California women's prison

Bolivian prosecutors seek the arrest of former President Morales in sexual abuse case

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Prosecutors in Bolivia on Monday sought the arrest of former President Evo Morales in connection to a sexual abuse investigation involving his alleged fathering of a child with a 15-year-old girl. The arrest warrant, which still must be approved by a judge,...

Takeaways from AP's reporting on a child sex abuse crisis inside a secretive Christian sect

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — For decades, a little-known Christian sect has dealt with its abusive ministers and spiritual elders mostly in secret, shunning legal action in favor of urging victims to forgive the predators in their midst. Forgiveness, however, was far from a cure: The...

West Africa regional bloc sets up court for crimes under dictatorship in Gambia

SERREKUNDA, Gambia (AP) — West Africa's regional bloc ECOWAS on Sunday approved setting up a special court to try crimes committed in Gambia during its military dictatorship. The landmark decision was announced at the summit of regional heads of state in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja....

Wander Franco's sex abuse trial has been postponed 5 months

PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic (AP) — The trial against Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who has been charged with sexually abusing a minor, sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking, was postponed on Thursday and scheduled to resume June 2, 2025. ...

US Biathlon officials ignored sexual harassment and abuse of female racers for decades, athletes say

Sexual abuse and harassment by coaches and others who held positions of power over women on the U.S. Biathlon team have been dismissed, ignored or excused over decades by officials more concerned with winning medals than holding offenders accountable, according to a half-dozen former Olympians and...

Wander Franco trial: Rays star faces sexual abuse, human trafficking charges in Dominican Republic

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco is scheduled to go to trial Thursday in the Dominican Republic in a sexual abuse case involving a 14-year-old girl. Now 23, Franco was having an All-Star season in 2023 before Dominican authorities began investigating allegations he had been in...