Luis Jesus Barajas, 76, a former priest accused of “inappropriately touching” a 15-year-old Westlake girl sick with cancer while giving her a blessing, was indicted on six counts of gross sexual imposition by a grand jury. Witnesses told police Barajas used blankets and clothing to to hide his actions and his movements during the blessing were “unconventional.” Another Catholic priest learned of the incident and reported it to police on Oct. 20. Barajas was accused of sexual misconduct involving juveniles in the Diocese of Harrisburg, PA around 1989 and sent back to Columbia, said Westlake police. ...

Lawmakers around the United States have tried to grant justice to victims of decades-old incidents of child sexual abuse by giving them extra time to file lawsuits. Now some of the defendants in these cases, including church and youth organizations, are finding a safe haven: America’s bankruptcy courts.

The Catholic Diocese of Madison is pulling the plug on its support of the Boy Scouts of America at the end of next year. The Diocese of Madison covers Columbia, Dane, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jefferson, Lafayette, Marquette, Rock, and Sauk counties in south- central Wisconsin. Kris Kranenburg, the director of communications for the diocese, told The Gazette Monday that the decision, effective Dec. 31, 2024, was tied to the Boy Scouts of America’s ongoing bankruptcy process.

“The 2017 Netflix documentary “The Keepers” probed both cases and also delved into allegations of horrific sexual abuse at the now-shuttered all-girls Catholic high school.” The Keough alumni say that the priests, who have both since died, targeted vulnerable girls based on their disclosures in the confessional, then brought them into their private offices for supposed counseling sessions, in which they actually drugged, sexually assaulted and raped them. According to the Maryland Office of the Attorney General’s massive report on the sexual abuse of minors in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, 39 women and men have accused Maskell of sexual...

“We want church officials in Peoria to publicize these names,” St. Louis resident David Clohessy, a representative of SNAP