Author: rose

Catholic priest in Louisiana charged with child sexual abuse

Korey LaVergne, 37, of the Lafayette diocese, charged with three counts of felony indecent behavior with a juvenile

A Roman Catholic priest in the south-west Louisiana diocese where the US church’s clergy abuse scandal effectively started decades ago has been formally charged with three counts of felony indecent behavior with a juvenile.

A bill of information from the district attorney for Acadia parish charges 37-year-old Korey LaVergne with three counts of felony indecent behavior with a juvenile who was 15 at the time of the alleged offenses.

Court documents charge LaVergne with “willfully, unlawfully, knowingly and intentionally [committing] lewd or lascivious acts upon [the] juvenile” – or in the presence of the minor – on or about 1 January 2024. The charges contend that LaVergne had the “intention of arousing or gratifying the sexual desires of either person”.

A document dated 11 March filed by LaVergne’s attorneys state that the clergyman opted to waive his formal arraignment and in writing pleaded not guilty to the charges outlined in the bill of information.

LaVergne is a priest for the diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana. Another Lafayette diocese priest named Gilbert Gauthe brought the Catholic clergy abuse crisis to the US’s collective conscience by pleading guilty in 1985 to molesting several boys he encountered through his ministry.

He served 10 years in prison and now lives in Texas, and he has continued to be named in civil lawsuits from victims seeking damages from the Lafayette diocese over their abuse at Gauthe’s hands.

LaVergne’s formal charges came after he was arrested in mid-January on the same three counts referred to in the bill of information.

At the time, records showed that LaVergne, the pastor at the St Edward Catholic church in the community of Richard, posted bail of $15,000 less than 90 minutes after being jailed. That secured his release from custody while the case proceeds.

A week after his arrest, the Guardian obtained the investigators’ initial report on the case, which stated that LaVergne had been jailed after local authorities were told that the clergyman had “inappropriately touched a child” over the course of a year.

The Lafayette news station KADN reported on 16 January that another priest had reported the allegations against LaVergne to authorities prior to his arrest.

A pretrial hearing in the case has been tentatively scheduled for 12 June after LaVergne’s attorney filed a series of standard court motions, records show.

Neither LaVergne nor his attorney immediately responded to requests for comment from the Guardian on Friday regarding the formal charges.

LaVergne faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines.

Generally, under Louisiana law, indecent behavior with a juvenile can be punished with up to seven years in prison.

The state defines the offense as “any lewd or lascivious act … in the presence of any child under the age of 17”. The law also states that messages – including texts – and actions alleged to constitute grooming can fall under the offense.

Read original article

North Bay Shore bus driver, church worker arrested for alleged sexual abuse of 2 children

Suffolk County police arrested a North Bay Shore man accused of sexually abusing a pair of kids multiple times spanning nearly two decades.

Officers took Bernardo Amaya, 75, into custody at his home around 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Investigators accused him of inappropriately touching an 8-year-old girl in August.

As part of the investigation, Suffolk County police Special Victims Section detectives also said Amaya inappropriately touched a child in May and June of 2007 when the child was only four years old.

Police said Amaya came in contact with the victims at his North Bay Shore home at 1753 Pine Grove Blvd., where a family member was a childcare worker.

Amaya worked as a bus driver for Educational Bus Inc. in West Babylon.

Educational Bus Transportation spokesperson Lloyd Singer told News 12 in a statement: “Educational Bus Transportation takes this matter very seriously. We are currently reviewing the situation and will cooperate fully with law enforcement. The driver in question has been removed from service pending the outcome of the investigation. The safety of the students and communities we serve remains our top priority.”

Police said Amaya also works at Saint Luke’s Roman Catholic Church in Brentwood. News 12 reached out to the church for comment this morning, but has not yet heard back.

Police charged Amaya with two counts of 1st degree sexual abuse and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

He’s scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip today. Detectives are asking anyone who believes they could have been a victim of Amaya to contact the Special Victims Section at 631-852-6184.

Read original article

Dr. Herbert “Hub” Brennan, Providence, RI, Clergy Abuse Survivor

As the Rhode Island Attorney General released an in-depth report on its investigation of clergy abuse, survivor Hub Brennan spoke about the report’s importance and urged continued vigilance. We are publishing his statement in full because of his heartfelt assessment of the investigation’s impact.

PROVIDENCE, RI, March 4, 2026–Let me begin by thanking the Attorney General and his staff for their work. They recognized the gravity of this and did something about it.

The investigative courage demonstrated here rivals the work of The Boston Globe’s Spotlight investigation into the Boston Archdiocese in 2002. It is equally groundbreaking.

The report is both robust and exhaustive, outlining behavior that is grotesque and shocking to the senses. It objectively details—and confirms—what many have long known and some of us have lived through: that the Catholic Church, including the Diocese of Providence, has essentially overseen a child sex ring for generations.

This is a situation where, as one looks more and more closely at the details, it becomes increasingly reprehensible. At the same time, taking a step back and looking at the issue as a whole—locally, nationally, and globally—its enormity is stunning.

The permissive and accepting environment within its parishes—marked by secrecy, complacency, and an unspoken code—cultivated an internal belief that it was somehow acceptable for men in robes to rape children. As a friend who is a priest within the diocese once confided, “We asked for it, and now we’ve got it.”

Beyond the atrocities themselves, the grooming that preceded the crimes and the betrayal of trust that followed reveal the depth of depravity to which these priests descended. Aided and abetted by the Diocese of Providence, they placed their perverted desires and self-protection ahead of their spiritual mission.

If one wishes to learn the teachings of Jesus Christ, they should read the Bible. If one wishes to understand the Catholic Church, the need only to read this report.

It is mandatory reading for anyone with children in this—or any—organization where a child is left unsupervised with an adult. Abuse can occur in a moment, yet its effects last a lifetime.

Those who donate money or transfer assets to the Church may also wish give it a read.

Regarding the bishop’s recent claim that this is all behind us, I wish that were true. However, pedophilia exists as an aberration in nature and always will. Perpetrators are drawn to—and thrive within—hierarchical organizations where opportunity and trust abound. Grooming follows, then the crime. By then, it is too late: a life has been ruined—or in some instances, lost.

Parents and guardians, I beg you to be cautious. Trust in your deity, yet guard your children fiercely against false prophets.

Today, thanks to this report, we have a public record of deviant and criminal conduct that has been kept hidden for far too long.

Angela Walker, the Executive Director of the Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests, hit the nail on the head recently, noting that “financial settlements alone cannot repair decades of harm. Institutions must confront the systems that enabled the abuse and secrecy in the first place.

This Report is a major step forward in delivering that accountability. There is more work to be done to be sure, but this extraordinary report of the Attorney General and his team has brought us closer than ever to that goal, and for that, I and all the survivors of the Church’s abuse, are profoundly grateful.

Read SNAP’s statement on the Rhode Island AG’s report

Ann Hagan Webb, EdD, RI Survivor, Advocate, Psychologist

As the Rhode Island Attorney General released an in-depth report on its investigation of clergy abuse, survivor Ann Hagan Webb spoke about her decades of work to bring the diocese to account. We are publishing her statement in full because her words are so powerful.

PROVIDENCE, RI, March 4, 2026–General Nehronha just said that the diocese wasn’t really taking responsibility for what they did and didn’t do, and I think it’s more than that. Shame is something most victims of abuse feel, despite that it wasn’t our fault. The diocese should be deeply ashamed! It’s time for the shame to change sides!

I have been waiting for this report for so long! I first publicly called for the Providence Diocese to release its files in 2003. And there are R.I. survivors who demanded these files long before me. In 2007 I called for Atty Gen Lynch to investigate the diocese. I had meetings at Atty Gen Kilmartin’s office in 2013 and 2014. Finally in July, 2019, Attorney General Peter Neronha stepped up to the plate and took action. I want to thank you, General Neronha. Thank you, Adi Goldstein, Sean Malloy, Andrea Mauro, Patrick Dolan, members of the state police and the rest of the team for your tireless work on this investigation.

I’m sure it’s been a difficult road, sometimes heartbreaking, often frustrating.

While you were doing your investigation, my sister, Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee and I, and others have been on a parallel path – trying to find justice and protect children through the legislative process. Our path was equally heartbreaking and frustrating. I thank all who worked on this legislation from the bottom of my heart for your perseverance, resilience and dedication.

Today, for the first time in RI, the complicity of the Providence Diocese in a crime wave of child sexual abuse scanning more than 7 decades will be there for all of you to see in black and white.

I have heard thousands of survivors’ stories over the last 30+ years. Last May, in Rome for the Papal Conclave, I met survivors from all over the world. We were all trying to make this issue important in choosing the new Pope. Sometimes after spending hours in Vatican City, the enormity of the worldwide Abuse of children by Catholic Clergy got the better of me, and I had to walk away and cry. But nothing is as heartbreaking as knowing the depth of the complicity of the Providence Diocese here at home.

This report should make RI Catholics and non Catholics alike gasp in horror at the organized culture of cover up. They protected scores of pedophiles, while they silenced their young victims, over at least 7 decades. The report gives examples of this continuing to happen even in the last few years. It is not ancient history!

After this sinks in, I hope you will all reach the same conclusion “Never Again“.

The only way to stop this culture of protecting their own is through consequences, and in this country that means through the civil courts. Today the diocesan lawyers do everything they can to prevent victims’ stories from being heard, by fighting them in court, and in the State House. The diocese is actively lobbying against our revised Annie’s Bill which would hold them financially accountable. Meanwhile the Diocese continues to financially support many of the pedophiles in this report, paying them a retirement salary and health benefits and more! Yes! You should be outraged by this.

Ask any survivor who has tried to get justice, or personnel files, or even a sympathetic pastoral response from the Diocese. Most of us will tell you the same story. The process of dealing with the Diocese of Providence is a second layer of abuse and trauma. I dealt with my childhood abuse years ago in a therapist’s office, but I continue to be traumatized by this process of seeking justice.

This report was based on mountains of files provided voluntarily from the Diocese to the AG’s office, over 6 years. They never once agreed to come in and answer questions about their files. It is impossible for me to believe, to trust, that the Providence Diocese is suddenly totally transparent, that they revealed all their worst secrets, especially ones previously uncovered by the press. The Catholic Church has been secretive for 2,000 years, and the Vatican still expects abuse to be reported directly to Rome, not to local law enforcement. Robert McCarthy admitted that there was a policy of destroying the files of dead priests before 1990.

Given that….

This investigation is truly remarkable in what it could uncover.

Like the Epstein files, the closer you look at this report, the more you will see how insidious the culture of coverup is. The Epstein files exposed powerful and wealthy people trafficking and abusing children and young women. This report recounts in detail how scores of trusted clerics preyed on the children of R.I. The Diocese, by reassigning priests, to new unsuspecting parishes of more children, did the trafficking. They moved the abusers, not the children, but the
result was the same.

On a personal note: This report finally declares me “credible”. You have no idea how important this is to me. To be deemed “not credible” by the Diocese for the last 32 years has haunted me in ways I cannot begin to describe. Monsignor DeAnngelis was pastor of Sacred Heart church for decades and wasn’t transferred like the others. But, I don’t think it was a coincidence that our church had 6 pedophiles serving there.

Next steps

Call the AG’s office if you haven’t yet told them your story of abuse in the Providence Diocese.

We cannot allow the Diocese to go back to business as usual.

Demand that they stop discrediting victims in the courtrooms and at the statehouse. Demand continued oversight by law enforcement. Change the Grand Jury law in RI that prevented a truly in-depth investigation of the Diocese.

Contact your legislators. Insist that they pass this year’s revised Annie’s Bill. Then we can be sure the Diocese and other complicit organizations will be held legally accountable. Lawsuits expose the truth and protect our children from the predators out there.

One last thing….

Childhood sexual abuse is hard to read about, and very sad. It is much easier to turn away. If we all look away, the children who are in danger today have no hope of protection. If we look away, the young people who have not yet come forward, will be silenced in advance.

This report is 400 pages of men’s cruelty to children, and its diabolical cover up. Read it. Read it in sections or all in one sitting, or skim it, then go back. By reading it you honor the children who were hurt. It will make you want to protect the children who have not been hurt yet.

Together we can do that.

Thank you.

Annhaganwebb@gmail.com
617-513-8442

Upcoming legislation:
House Judiciary Committee Hearing 3/12/2026
Sponsor: House Judiciary Chair Carol Hagan McEntee
H 7200. Annie’s Bill, Extending Civil SOL and creating a Look Back Window
H 8078. Grand Jury reports when there is Compelling Public Interest
H 8086. Regarding Criminal indictments for 2nd degree Sexual Assault
H 8093. Expands Mandatory Reporting
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, date TBA
Sponsor: Senate Judiciary Vice-Chair Mark McKenney
S 2016. Annie’s Bill, Extending Civil SOL and creating a Look Back Window

Read SNAP’s statement on the Rhode Island AG’s report in full

Pastor arrested in Cape Coast for child sexual abuse and production of indecent materials

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, in collaboration with the Cyber Security Authority and National Security, has arrested a pastor in connection with offences involving a minor, including defilement and the production and possession of child sexual abuse materials.

The Director General of CID, COP Lydia Yaako Donkor, made the announcement during a press conference on Monday, March 9, providing details of the joint operation and the ongoing investigation.

The suspect, Ebenezer Kondua, aged 45, is the lead pastor at Mahanaim Christian Centre in Ankaful, Cape Coast.

He was apprehended in Waraba, a suburb of Iguasi, during a joint intelligence-led operation in the early hours of March 6, 2026.

Investigations revealed that the suspect operates a Facebook profile under the name Reverend Dr. Kondua, where he presents himself as a trained gynaecologist and international marriage counsellor.

Evidence indicates that in August 2021, he invited a then 13-year-old junior high school student into his home under the guise of providing spiritual counselling and behavioural correction.

From that point, he allegedly subjected the minor to repeated sexual abuse over an extended period.

“The suspect repeatedly subjected the survivor to sexual abuse and recorded videos of the acts on his mobile phone,” COP Donkor said.

“In some instances, he forced the survivor to hold up materials, display an adult pornographic website, and state on camera that she was accessible on that platform with apparent intent to distribute such content online.”

The abuse was uncovered when the survivor confided in her school headmistress. A complaint was subsequently filed with the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) in Cape Coast, and a formal case was referred to the Cape Coast Circuit Court.

During the arrest, authorities recovered various items from the suspect’s home, now undergoing forensic analysis.

These include one HP laptop, three external hard drives, five pen drives, a mobile phone, a tablet, electronic vibrators, assorted contraceptives, lubricants, a used pregnancy test, and two ladies’ panties.

With the technical assistance of the Cyber Security Authority, forensic investigators found evidence of child sexual abuse material production and discovered three private pornographic website accounts on the suspect’s digital devices.

The suspect was previously charged with defamation of a female child under 16 and child pornography offences.

Upon his re-arrest on March 8, 2026, he faced a new charge of possessing an indecent image or photograph of a child, under Sections 62 and 63 of the Cybersecurity Act 2020, Act 1038.

He has been remanded in custody and is scheduled to reappear in court on March 27, 2026.

COP Donkor emphasised that the arrest reflects Ghana’s ongoing commitment to child protection, particularly in the online environment.

“This case underscores the commitments made at the highest levels of our institutions—the Ghana Police Service, the Cybersecurity Authority, and National Security—to ensure that every child is safe and protected online,” she said.

The Director General highlighted the importance of combating online child sexual exploitation (OCSE), which includes grooming, sextortion, production and distribution of child sexual abuse materials, and live-streamed abuse.

She noted the pivotal role of the CID and the Child Protection Digital Forensic Laboratory in investigating such crimes, alongside efforts by the Cybersecurity Authority and international partners, including UNICEF.

“The Ghana Police Service, the Cybersecurity Authority and National Security want to assure the public that this case is being handled with the utmost seriousness and that all necessary legal actions will be taken to ensure justice,” COP Donkor stated.

“Our commitment remains unwavering to utilise technology and collaboration to make Ghana’s digital space safer for every child.”

Read original article

South Carolina Pastor Accused of Disturbing Child Abuse Allegations

Myron Chorbajian’s mugshot Credit: Metropolitan Nashville Police Department

Myron Chorbajian and his wife Kathleen face charges for alleged abuses dating back to the 1980s

A former South Carolina pastor named Myron Chorbajian is accused of a range of disturbing child abuse allegations, including sexual abuse, forcing children to eat trash and bury a dog he killed, and other physical abuse. His wife Kathleen Chorbajian is also charged for allegedly knowing about some of the abuse and failing to intervene or report it.

Why it matters

These allegations against the Chorbajians highlight the ongoing issue of child abuse, especially within religious institutions and families, and the need for stronger reporting and accountability measures to protect vulnerable children. The case has also drawn attention to the challenges victims face in coming forward with abuse claims, particularly when the perpetrators are in positions of power and trust.

The details

According to arrest warrants, Myron Chorbajian is accused of sexually abusing his female children, forcing them to eat trash and dirt, and making one child bury a dog he had killed in front of them. He also allegedly punched a victim in the face, forced them to sleep in a trash can and eat its contents, and beat another child with a belt until they lost consciousness. Kathleen Chorbajian is charged with knowing about some of the alleged sexual abuse and physical abuse but failing to intervene or report it.

  • Myron and Kathleen Chorbajian were arrested in May 2025 after a child abuse investigation was launched in April 2025.
  • The alleged abuse incidents date back to the 1980s when Myron was a pastor at 1st Southern Methodist Church in Greenville, South Carolina.

The players

Myron Chorbajian

A former pastor at 1st Southern Methodist Church in Greenville, South Carolina, who is accused of a range of disturbing child abuse allegations against his adopted children.

Kathleen Chorbajian

The wife of Myron Chorbajian, who is charged with knowing about some of the alleged abuse and failing to intervene or report it.

What’s next

The judge in the case will decide on Tuesday whether or not to allow Kathleen Chorbajian to be released on bond.

The takeaway

This case underscores the critical importance of vigilance, reporting, and comprehensive investigations to uncover and address instances of child abuse, even in trusted community institutions and families. It serves as a sobering reminder that abuse can occur in any setting, and that protecting vulnerable children must be an unwavering priority.

Read original article

El Paso Catholic Diocese files for bankruptcy reorganization

El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz speaks at a news conference regarding the diocese’s decision to seek reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. (Robert Moore/El Paso Matters)

The El Paso Catholic Diocese, faced with potential “astronomical” judgments in a dozen lawsuits alleging clergy sexual abuse, filed for bankruptcy reorganization Friday.

The 12 lawsuits involving 18 plaintiffs, filed between 2022 and 2025 in Las Cruces, allege sexual abuse by priests at a number of New Mexico parishes between 1956 and early 1982, when southern New Mexico was part of the El Paso diocese.

“First of all, let me say we don’t see it as a way to duck out of our responsibility,” El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz said in an interview with El Paso Matters. “It’s the only way, with the resources at hand, that we can begin to address this many claimants in an equitable way.”

A 59-year-old Las Cruces man who is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuits said the El Paso diocese is using the bankruptcy process to evade accountability.

“Today, just like in the past, the diocese is only doing what is best for them. By filing for bankruptcy, they have removed the opportunity for us to hold them accountable for their failures in a court of law. Bankruptcy brings no justice to the victims, only blanket protection to the diocese,” Isaac Melendrez Jr. said in a statement to El Paso Matters.

Melendrez alleges in a 2024 lawsuit in Las Cruces that he was sexually abused beginning in 1981, when he was 15, by the Rev. Richard Nesom at Our Lady of Purification Catholic Church in Las Cruces. Nesom is on the El Paso diocese list of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse. He died in 2022.

The survivors of clerical sexual abuse who sued the El Paso diocese want accountability and transparency, said Levi Monagle, an Albuquerque attorney who is representing several of the New Mexico plaintiffs.

He said the diocese had informed the New Mexico plaintiffs of the possibility of the bankruptcy filing, which by law would pause the lawsuits.

“The diocese could have filed its petition anytime they wanted to, and it made a lot of sense for the folks involved in those cases to try to, for lack of a better word, extract concessions from the diocese as to what a bankruptcy would look like in advance of its filing,” Monagle said.

He declined to discuss the negotiations with the diocese, but he said the survivors he represents want the diocese to establish a public archive of documents related to decades of sexual abuse. The archdiocese of Santa Fe established such an archive in its bankruptcy reorganization that was approved in 2022.

Another attorney representing survivors, Wouter Zwart of Albuquerque, said the bankruptcy filing was “retraumatizing” for some. Melendrez is among his clients.

“And I think the bankruptcy filing feels like another delay tactic, even if there’s light at the end of the road of this process,” Zwart said, saying some pending diocesan bankruptcy reorganizations are in their third or fourth year.

The first hearing in the bankruptcy case will be at 11:30 a.m. Monday.

Read original article

Former Wake County teacher and youth pastor charged with child sex crimes

According to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Mikah Brondyke was arrested and charged with sex crimes against children. His wife, an assistant principal, is also facing drug charges.

A former Wake County Public Schools teacher and youth pastor is facing charges after he was accused of sex crimes against children, according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

Court documents showed that Mikah Brondyke sent explicit videos to a Holly Springs police officer acting undercover as a 14-year-old girl.

Brondyke, 36, was arrested on Tuesday and faces several charges, including:

  • Soliciting a child by computer
  • Indecent liberties with a child
  • Disseminating obscenity
  • First-degree sexual exploitation of a minor
  • Felony possession of a schedule 1 controlled substance
  • Maintain a dwelling for a controlled substance

Brondyke’s wife, Chloe Bronydke, an assistant principal at Rolesville High School, was also charged with felony possession of a controlled substance and maintaining a dwelling for a controlled substance, the NCSBI said.

In a letter sent to families, Rolesville High School Principal Phelan Perry said the incidents related to the charges did not happen at the school and did not involve any Rolesville High School students.

Mikah Brondyke, who was a career and technical education teacher and assistant soccer coach at Rolesville High School until May 1, 2024, is being held in the Franklin County Detention Center under a $620,000 secured bond. He’s due in court in April.

North Carolina Wesleyan University confirmed Brondyke worked at the school from June 2017 to August 2020 in a ministry and outreach role.

“The charges described involve alleged conduct that occurred well after his employment at the University and in contexts unrelated to North Carolina Wesleyan University,” a school spokesperson said in a statement to WRAL.

Chloe Bronydke turned herself in and posted a $20,000 bond, according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. She has been suspended with pay while the district investigates, Rolesville High School’s principal said.

The Holly Springs Police Department is among several agencies that are part of a broader task force that investigates cybercrimes against children.

“Tips can come from the State Bureau of Investigation or they may even come from the federal bureau of investigation,” Chief Paul Liquorie said. “Then trying to also see if they will be solicited by this person they are receiving a tip of.”

He had a warning for parents to remain vigilant in protecting their children from potential predators in the digital space.

“It can be really anybody that gets involved in this, and more importantly, it can be any kind of child that’s being targeted,” Liquorie said. Parents have to be active with that and put guardrails around their social media use and internet use.”

Read original article

Area priest charged with sexual assault involving minor

Alleged victim reported being sexually assaulted on two occasions between 1996 and 1999, York Regional Police say

A Coptic Church priest from East Gwillimbury has been charged in connection with the historical sexual assault of a minor.

An alleged victim came forward to York Region Police last November to report they had been sexually assaulted on two occasions between 1996 and 1999.

At the time of the assault, the victim was under the age of 16, police stated in a news release.

Investigators have released the suspect’s photograph as they believe there may be more potential victims.

Michelle (aka Michael) Shafik, 47, has been charged with sexual assault and sexual interference.

None of the allegations have been tested in court.

A sexual assault includes any non-consensual contact of a sexual nature, police say.

York Regional Police encourages anyone who feels they may have been a victim of a sexual assault to come forward and report the incident. There is no statute of limitations for sexual offences and offenders can be prosecuted well after the date of the offence.

Read original article