John J. Geoghan, a former Catholic Priest, was convicted last week of indecent assault on a minor. According to the suit, while he was a priest in the Boston Archdiocese, Geoghan molested a 10-year old boy in 1991 at a local swimming pool. Geoghan is scheduled to be sentenced February 21 after undergoing a 30-day psychiatric evaluation. Geoghan is also scheduled to begin a second criminal trial on separate charges of child sexual assault on February 20 before beginning a third criminal trial. Since the 1980s, Geoghan may have assaulted more than 130 children. These children have now come forward, but the statutes of limitation may have passed for some of their charges.
Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston apologized earlier this month for knowingly allowing Geoghan to continue his duties as a parish priest while he was suspected of molestation and pedophilia. The LA Times reports that 118 people have now launched civil suits against Law and the Archdiocese of Boston for negligence. The archdiocese has already paid more than $10 million in settlements to Geoghan’s alleged victims. Massachusetts legislators are now considering laws that would require clergy to report allegations of abuse to civil authorities. Currently, under a Vatican directive, priests suspected of pedophilia and child rape need only appear before secret ecclesiastical courts.
5/22/2013 Immigration Reform Bill Advances In Senate - Last night, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a sweeping immigration reform bill in a bipartisan vote of 13 to 5. . . .
5/22/2013 Afghan Women Arrested for 'Moral Crimes' Increases 50% - A new report by the Human Rights Watch shows that in the past 18 months the number of women in Afghanistan incarcerated for 'moral crimes' has increased from 400 to 600, a 50% growth.
Many of the women imprisoned for moral crimes were arrested running away from forced or abusive marriages and families, even though there is no law against leaving. . . .
5/22/2013 Army Commander Suspended for Adultery Amid Wave of Sexual Assaults - On Tuesday, Brigadier General Bryan T Roberts was suspended from his position as commander of the Fort Jackson, South Carolina training camp which trains approximately 60% of incoming female recruits pending an investigation into allegations of adultery.
Roberts was suspended following allegations of "adultery and a physical altercation." Colonel Christian Kubik, an Army spokesperson for the Training and Doctrine Command, told reporters "We don't have any evidence of any sexual assault. . . .
