Author, blogger and Pacific female advocate, Lani Wendt Young, has published a blog post criticising Deacon Kasiano Le’aupepe comments about sexual violence, which has fuelled support from Pacific females around the world. Le’aupepe, who Chairman of Samoa’s National Council of Churches, has urged girls and women to bite men who sexually assault them. “In fact”, he said “they Read more
A statistic based on a United Nations Multi-Country Study on Men and Violence led many to believe that one in four men admitted to sexual assault in Asia and the Pacific. But is this founded on evidence or merely a misreading of the research? Numbers, we’ve learned time and time again, can be deceiving. After Read more
A priest in Fiji who has been accused of rape and multiple allegations of sex related crimes has been placed in police custody for his own safety. Kolikoli was charged with one count of rape and three counts of indecent assault following a complaint lodged by a 21-year-old on Feb. 24 Police prosecutors say further Read more
A day after an investigation by prominent Adelaide QC, Michael Abbott, found there was no substance to an allegation of rape against one of its senior clerics, the complainant, Traditional Anglican Bishop John Hepworth has filed a complaint with the South Australian police. Bitterly disappointed with the Church investigation, Hepworth said he had no choice but Read more
The Catholic Church in Adelaide has found there is no substance to an allegation of rape against one of its senior clerics. The allegation was brought by Traditional Anglican Archbishop, John Hepworth and dates back 40 years to when he was a Catholic seminarian. The investigation, conducted by Michael Abbott, a prominent Adelaide QC, found Read more
Reinstated Ireland parish priest, Fr Kevin Reynolds says the RTE media apology has freed him from false allegations, baseless accusations and lies. Reynolds was accused of raping a minor, named Veneranda while he was a missionary in Kenya and as a result of the rape, fathering a child named Sheila. In an apology, dated Thursday 6 Read more
Though Archbishop Hepworth complained to the Adelaide archdiocese of sexual abuse, the diocesan authorities claim that he did not authorise an official investigation until early this year. The Adelaide Archdiocese has provided a letter to The Advertiser that shows Archbishop Hepworth only signed a request for the investigation in February this year despite receiving a request from Read more
Two letters have been sent to Senate president John Hogg about Senator Xenophon’s naming of Msgr Ian Dempsey under Parliamentary privilege. A Senate committee will consider the complaints. One of the letters was from Msgr Dempsey and the other from civil libertarian Terry O’Gorman who is urging an investigation into the naming of the priest, Read more
South Australian senator Nick Xenophon, on Tuesday evening, used parliamentary privilege to name and shame an Adelaide priest, Monsignor Ian Dempsey, accusing him of raping and sexually abusing Traditional Anglican Communion Archbishop, John Hepworth. Xenophon dismissed the presumption of innocence in Parliament, saying in his opinion the Adelaide Archdiocese had taken too long to resolve the Read more
The Catholic Church in Adelaide denies it delayed investigating allegations of rape and sex abuse by a Traditional Anglican Communion Archbishop, John Hepworth. Over the weekend, the Australian revealed that Fr John Hepworth fled the Catholic priesthood in 1972 after enduring sexual abuse from two priests and a fellow seminarian for twelve years. After leaving, Read more