Child Sex Abuse | featured news

Pope Francis has indicated that he will act against sex abuse cases in the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican said in a statement Friday that the pope has urged the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith to "act with determination with regard to cases of sexual abuse." The statement cited measures promoted by Benedict XVI to protect minors, helping victims of sexual violence and taking necessary action against perpetrators. U.S. victims of clergy abuse have demanded swift and bold actions from the new Jesuit pontiff.

Kevin Clash, the man who voiced the popular puppet Elmo on "Sesame Street," is facing accusations of underage sex abuse by a fifth man. On Tuesday, a new federal lawsuit was filed against the puppeteer in New York.

Kevin Clash, the ex-Elmo puppeteer who previously faced allegations of sex abuse, is once again at the center of a lawsuit.

A South African cardinal on Monday apologized for offending victims of child abuse when he described pedophilia as an illness and not a crime in a media interview. Victims' rights groups and others said the comments by Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, the Catholic Archbishop of Durban, comments were insensitive, especially given perceptions the Catholic Church has not done enough to root out abuse.

There have been nearly 17,000 victims of clergy sexual abuse since 1950 and legal settlements for their suffering continue to climb. Add another $10 million to the $2.5 billion that the Catholic Church in the USA has spent in confronting the clergy sex abuse crisis.

Popular pressure is mounting in the U.S. and Italy to keep California Cardinal Roger Mahony away from the conclave to elect the next pope because of his role shielding sexually abusive priests, a movement targeting one of the most prominent of a handful of compromised cardinals scheduled to vote next month....

The family of the former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno issued its own review, challenging claims that he helped conceal child sex abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky.

The Archdiocese of L.A. took $115 million from its cemeteries' maintenance fund in 2007, nearly depleting it. The move seems legal, but it was not announced, and relatives of the dead were not told.

'It's obvious that the L.A. Archdiocese and everyone working with them were aware of those of us being abused,' says Matt Severson, who says he was molested as a boy. The release of thousands of pages of church files showing how Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and other top Los Angeles Archdiocese officials dealt with priest molestation cases has generated outrage and anguish at parishes across Southern California.

Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky's bid for a new trial on child sex abuse charges was rejected by a Pennsylvania judge on Wednesday.