Southeast
Catholic monk comes out as transgender with diocese's permission
A Catholic monk in Kentucky has come out publicly as a transgender man and claims to be the first person in his position to do so.
Brother Christian Matson, 39, a Catholic hermit in the Diocese of Lexington in Kentucky, made the declaration on Sunday, the diocese announced Tuesday. Hermits are a small subset of religious persons who mostly spend their lives engaged in quiet prayer.
“On Pentecost Sunday, Brother Christian Matson, a professed hermit in the Diocese of Lexington, has made it public that he is a transgender person,” the diocese said. Pentecost Sunday is the day on which the Holy Spirit descended upon early Christians, the Bible teaches.
Matson converted to Catholicism in 2010, four years after transitioning while in college, Matson told Religion News Service (RNS) last week ahead of the pending announcement. In 2022, Matson took vows as a hermit under Bishop John Stowe of the Diocese of Lexington in Kentucky. Stowe was aware of Matson being trans, according to the outlet.
Matson, who is also a Benedictine oblate, had a defiant message to those who are critical of transgender people in the church.
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Brother Christian Matson, left, a Catholic hermit in the Diocese of Lexington in Kentucky, has come out publicly as a trans person. (Jennifer Hart Yonts | Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
“You’ve got to deal with us, because God has called us into this church,” Matson told RNS. “It’s not your church to kick us out of — this is God’s church, and God has called us and engrafted us into it.”
“If I don’t say anything and allow the church to continue to make decisions based on incorrect information, then I’m not serving the church.” Matson was raised in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Matson claims to be the first openly transgender person in his position in the Catholic Church, although RNS was not able to confirm the claim.
Last month, the Vatican published a document that discussed the Catholic Church’s view on transgender individuals.
Pope Francis has previously called gender ideology as one of the world’s “most dangerous ideological colonizations.” (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
The declaration, called “Infinite Dignity,” was approved by Pope Francis and said that God created men and women as biologically different beings, and that no one should try to alter that plan or “make oneself God.” The document describes gender-affirming surgery as violating God’s gift of human dignity and as attempting to play God on the surgeon’s table during a “sex-change intervention.”
Francis has previously called gender ideology as one of the world’s “most dangerous ideological colonizations.”
A 2019 Vatican document rejected “calls for public recognition of the right to choose one’s gender” in its instructional letter, while in 2021, the Diocese of Marquette in Michigan instructed priests to refuse transgender people asking to be baptized or confirmed until they have “repented,” according to RNS.
“It was suddenly becoming a lot more difficult in the church to be trans,” Matson told RNS.
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Some dioceses in the U.S. have issued stern guidelines in effect forbidding acknowledgment of gender transitions. However, some parishes have welcomed trans people.
Matson decided he wanted to dedicate his life to his faith, but a 2000 Vatican document that, according to a Catholic News Service report from the time, stated that anyone who had undergone “sex-change” was ineligible to marry, be ordained or enter religious life.
Matson then sought the advice of a canon lawyer, and after a decade of trying to find a suitable religious order to serve as well as studying in the U.K., he connected with Bishop John Stowe of the Diocese of Lexington in Kentucky, who had been calling for a more tolerant approach to LGBTQ+ people. During that time, Matson also co-founded a nonprofit in New York City called the Catholic Artist Connection.
Stowe expressed his openness to accepting Matson as a hermit because he was a sincere person who wanted to serve the church, Stowe said of Matson, per RNS.
“Hermits are a rarely used form of religious life … but they can be either male or female,” Stowe said. Because there’s no pursuit of priesthood or engagement in sacramental ministry, and because the hermit is a relatively quiet and secluded type of vocation, I didn’t see any harm in letting him live this vocation.”
“It was an enormous relief,” Matson said. “I was in tears. I felt my hope revive.”
Two trans people hold hands while marching under a trans pride flag in the New York City Pride Parade on June 26, 2022 in New York City. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
In 2022, Matson took his first vows as a diocesan hermit under Stowe’s direction and then renewed the vows in 2023.
“I became Catholic after I transitioned because of the Catholic understanding — the sacramental understanding — of the body, of creation, of the desirability of the visible unity of the church and primarily because of the Eucharist,” Watson told RNS.
The Diocese of Lexington’s statement went on to say that “Brother Christian has long sought to consecrate his life to Christ in the Church by living the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience.”
“He has consistently been accompanied by a competent spiritual director and has undergone formation in the Benedictine tradition,” the statement continues. “He does not seek ordination, but has professed a rule of life that allows him to support himself financially by continuing his work in the arts and to live a life of contemplation in a private hermitage.”
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Southeast
Louisiana manhunt continues as dangerous inmate charged with attempted murder remains on the run
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Louisiana authorities are continuing to search for the last of three inmates who broke through a deteriorating wall on Wednesday and escaped a jail about 130 miles northwest of New Orleans.
The three inmates, identified as Keith Eli, 24, of Opelousas; Johnathan Jevon Joseph, 24, of Opelousas; and Joseph Allen Harrington, 26, of Melville, allegedly used sheets and other items to scale an outer wall, drop onto the roof of the first floor and lower themselves to the ground, according to a statement from the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Harrington killed himself with a hunting rifle Thursday after a standoff with police at a home in Port Barre, The Associated Press reported.
Prior to his escape, St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office records show, he was charged with nine felonies, including home invasion and aggravated assault with a firearm.
Keith Eli, left; Johnathan Jevon Joseph, center; and Joseph Allen Harrington, inmates who escaped from a Louisiana prison. (St. Landry Parish Sheriff via Facebook)
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Police nabbed the second escapee, Joseph, the next day after a foot chase.
Sheriff’s officials said a tip led deputies to a home where he was hiding out, according to the report. He surrendered after fleeing to a nearby storage shed.
Joseph, also a convicted felon, was previously charged with principal first-degree rape, along with drug and gun offenses.
The inmates escaped St. Landry Parish Jail Wednesday in Louisiana. (Google Maps)
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The third missing inmate, Eli, remains missing and was charged with attempted second-degree murder.
“We would prefer that he surrender himself peaceably, but we will not rest until he is captured,” St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz wrote in a statement obtained by the AP.
In May, 10 prisoners escaped a minimum-custody New Orleans jail after removing a toilet from a wall inside a cell and crawling through it.
Video cameras in the prison captured the brazen escape, with footage showing the group scaling a fence, using blankets to protect themselves from barbed wire and running across an interstate to a nearby neighborhood where they changed clothes.
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Inmates wrote messages, including, “To Easy LOL” and “WE INNOCENT,” among others, near the hole they used to flee the jail.
The last remaining fugitive, a four-time convicted killer, was arrested five months after the escape after a standoff with authorities in Atlanta.
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Three jail employees have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, Fox News Digital previously reported.
An internal investigation has been initiated, and the jail supervisory staff will be providing a comprehensive report, according to Guidroz.
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Southeast
Disgraced teacher accused of using Google Docs to groom underage student before alleged sex crimes
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A Palm Beach County, Florida, science teacher is behind bars after investigators say he used a shared Google Doc to secretly communicate with a student before engaging in sexual acts with her at school and inside his apartment, according to an arrest affidavit.
Elias Gordon Farley, 26, a former teacher at Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton, was arrested after the student reported the alleged abuse on Nov. 18.
The teen told detectives the interactions began as casual conversations during the previous school year, but over the summer, Farley allegedly created a shared Google Doc in which the two wrote messages back and forth.
Investigators said the file later contained explicit entries describing sexual activity and planning when they would meet privately.
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Elias Gordon Farley, a former teacher at the Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton, is facing felony charges after police say he engaged in a months-long sexual relationship with a student. (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)
According to the affidavit, the student said the relationship became physical in mid-September inside Farley’s office, where he touched her beneath her clothing. She told detectives the encounters continued for weeks in both his office and a classroom.
By late September and into October, she said the pair were engaging in sexual acts, including oral sex and, at one point, intercourse inside a classroom on campus.
The student also described visiting Farley’s apartment twice in early November after recognizing details he had mentioned about its location and layout. She told deputies that several sexual encounters occurred during those visits.
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A teacher was accused of using Google Docs to talk to an underage student before sexual encounters. (Google Maps)
Detectives later executed a search warrant and said they found bedding, condom wrappers and furniture matching her description. Farley’s roommate confirmed he had not been home on the dates the teen said she visited.
School surveillance video reviewed by deputies also appeared to support her account, showing Farley and the student entering his office together on Nov. 7 and later entering a classroom for about an hour.
The situation came to light after the student confided in an art teacher on Nov. 14 and showed her bruises and bite marks she said came from Farley. Administrators were informed the next day, suspended Farley immediately and reported the matter to child welfare authorities.
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A former science teacher at Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Palm Beach County was arrested after allegations of an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. (iStock)
Farley refused to speak with detectives after being read his Miranda rights, according to the affidavit.
Farley was booked into the Palm Beach County Main Detention Center Dec. 4 and is being held on $500,000 bond, jail records show. He faces charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and offense against a student by an authority figure.
In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, Donna Klein Jewish Academy said it is cooperating fully with the investigation and called the situation “a difficult time for all of us at Donna Klein.”
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“We are approaching this serious situation with the utmost care, keeping the well-being of our students, faculty and families at the forefront,” a spokesperson said.
The school said it is working closely with families, teachers and staff to ensure they have the support they need, adding that its priority is maintaining “a safe, compassionate and educational environment for all.”
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The spokesperson said no additional details would be released “out of respect for the privacy of our community” but that Farley is no longer employed at the school.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office at 561-688-3000.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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Two teen boys in Florida are accused of fatally shooting a 14-year-old girl and setting her on fire along a wooded walking trail last week in what authorities are calling a “horrific” killing.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters Thursday that the body has been identified as Danika Troy. He said Danika’s mother reported her as a runaway on Monday.
“Unbeknownst to the mother, Danika was murdered the previous night,” Johnson said.
A passerby discovered Danika’s body along a wooded area off Kimberly Road in Pace, a town about 16 miles northeast of Pensacola, and called 911, Johnson said.
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Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters that the suspects were supposedly friends with the victim from school. He said investigators were still working to determine a motive. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators quickly identified the suspects as 14-year-old Kimahri Blevins and 16-year-old Gabriel Williams and took them into custody.
“This is where it gets really horrific,” Johnson said.
Kimahri Blevins, 14, is facing premeditated first-degree murder charges. Authorities are seeking to charge him as an adult. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)
Williams allegedly stole his mother’s handgun and shot Danika.
“It’s bad enough you kill a 14-year-old. You’re 14. You’re 16,” Johnson said. “Shoot her multiple times, and then they set her on fire.”
Gabriel Williams, 16, is facing premeditated first-degree murder charges. Authorities are seeking to charge him as an adult. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)
Johnson said investigators are still working to determine a motive.
“They have been interviewed, but the motive that they’re giving doesn’t fit the forensics or any facts of the case, so we don’t have a legit motive,” he told reporters.
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Blevins and Williams supposedly knew the victim from school, according to Johnson. He believed the two teens have had previous “run-ins” with law enforcement, though he could not immediately say if they had earlier arrests.
Blevins and Williams are being held at the Department of Juvenile Justice on premeditated first-degree murder charges.
“You don’t want to go out and see a burnt child with bullet holes,” Johnson said. “That’s not something you sign up for.”
Johnson said no parents have been charged at this time, though investigators are “looking into it.”
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The sheriff’s office is working with the State Attorney to charge both teens as adults.
“If you do an adult crime, you gotta do adult time,” Johnson said.
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