In October 2018, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that her office was opening a comprehensive investigation into allegations that Florida’s seven Catholic dioceses had engaged in a widespread coverup of sexual abuse allegations involving priests. Bondi’s announcement followed the release of the landmark Pennsylvania Attorney General’s report into five Catholic dioceses, which resulted in the disclosure that more…
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Diocese of Palm Beach
Former Boca Raton Priest John Sutton On List of Priests “Credibly Accused” of Abusing Minors
John Sutton, a former Catholic priest who served for a time at Saint Joan of Arc in Boca Raton, Florida is included by the Diocese of Paterson (New Jersey) in its list of 28 priests who have been “credibly accused” of illegal sexual abuse involving minors. John Sutton was born in 1943 and ordained in 1970. Sutton served in the following…
Florida Attorney General Sets Up Website to Report Clergy Sexual Abuse
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has followed the lead of the Attorney General offices in other states by setting up a website for people to report past abuse by Catholic priests, clergy and other religious leaders in Florida. The investigation will be aided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in reviewing the state’s seven Catholic Dioceses. The link to the…
Priest Thomas Benestad of Boca Raton Parish Had History of Abuse Per Grand Jury Report
Monsignor Thomas Benestad assisted at Ascension Catholic Church in Boca Raton between 2007 and 2011. Parishioners are now learning for the first time from a Grand Jury Report that Benestad was accused of child sexual abuse dating back to his tenure as a priest of the Diocese of Allentown in the 1980’s. This alleged abuse is documented in the recent…