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Wisconsin sexual abuse case against defrocked Cardinal McCarrick suspended

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Wisconsin sexual abuse case against defrocked Cardinal McCarrick suspended

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge suspended charges against defrocked Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, accused of sexually assaulting a boy in the 1970s, ruling Wednesday that the former cleric is incompetent for trial because of dementia.

The decision will be reviewed at the end of the year, according to court records.

McCarrick, who did not appear in person for the hearing but listened in by phone, was charged with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old man more than 45 years ago, court records show. A criminal complaint alleges he fondled the man in 1977 while staying at a cabin on Geneva Lake in southeastern Wisconsin.

The alleged victim, who was not named, also told investigators that McCarrick had repeatedly sexually assaulted him since he was 11 and even brought him to parties where other adult men abused him, according to the complaint.

McCarrick’s Wisconsin attorney did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.

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Peter Isely, program director of Nate’s Mission, a Wisconsin-based project of Ending Clergy Abuse, issued a statement saying the charge “would bring McCarrick to some kind of justice. For a victim to see his offender before a judge — even if that appearance is by phone — it can be a day of emancipation and liberation from carrying the awful burden of shame and secrecy that are an inevitable consequence of these crimes.”

McCarrick was removed from the priesthood in 2019 after a Vatican investigation found he had sexually molested adults and children.

He became the highest-ranking Catholic official in the U.S. to face criminal charges for sexual abuse when he was accused in 2021 of assaulting a teenage boy at a wedding reception in Massachusetts in 1974. His attorneys asked the judge earlier this year to dismiss the charges in that case, saying McCarrick, now 92 and suffering from dementia, was not competent to stand trial.

The once-powerful priest was ordained in 1958 and became archbishop in Newark, New Jersey, in 1986 and then archbishop of Washington, D.C., in 2000, rising to power despite church officials’ knowledge of accusations against him. A two-year Vatican investigation into McCarrick’s tenure found credible reports of his problematic behavior dating back to 1999, including an inquiry confirming that he slept with seminarians.

The church has confirmed it made financial settlements with adults who accused McCarrick of sexual misconduct. The cardinal retired in 2006 but continued to be active in political circles until he was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019.

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Wisconsin prosecutors learned of the alleged 1977 assault through a program dedicated to prosecuting instances of abuse by faith leaders, they said in a statement at the time McCarrick was charged. Officials were able to charge him because the statute of limitations does not apply to people who are not residents of the state. A similar law allowed Massachusetts prosecutors to bring their case against McCarrick more than 40 years later.

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Man in India regains consciousness before his cremation on funeral pyre: reports

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Man in India regains consciousness before his cremation on funeral pyre: reports

A 25-year-old man who was declared dead and about to be cremated in India this week was found to be still alive by witnesses, according to reports. 

Rohitash Kumar, 25, who was deaf and mute, was declared dead at a hospital in the state of Rajasthan in the northwestern part of India without a post-mortem examination, according to The Times of India. 

Once it was clear Kumar was alive at his cremation on Thursday afternoon, his family reportedly took him back to a hospital where he died early Friday morning. 

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A crematorium in India.  (Rupak De Chowdhuri/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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Three doctors involved in declaring Kumar dead at the Bhagwan Das Khetan district hospital have since been suspended, the newspaper reported. 

Kumar had suffered an epileptic seizure and was declared dead after he flatlined while doctors were performing CPR on him, the Daily Mail reported, citing the AFP news service. 

Relatives carry the body of a person who died of COVID-19 as multiple pyres of other victims burn at a crematorium in New Delhi, India, in 2021.

Relatives carry the body of a person who died of COVID-19 as multiple pyres of other victims burn at a crematorium in New Delhi, India, in 2021. (AP Photo/Amit Sharma, File)

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“The situation was nothing short of a miracle,” a witness at the funeral pyre told local news outlet ETV Bharat. “We all were in shock. He was declared dead, but there he was, breathing and alive.” 

Ramavtar Meena, a government official in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district, called the incident “serious negligence.”

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Rajasthan, India

The state of Rajasthan in northwestern India.  (Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“Action will be taken against those responsible. The working style of the doctors will also be thoroughly investigated,” he said. 

Meena added that a committee had been formed to investigate the incident. 

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Thousands march across Europe protesting violence against women

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Thousands march across Europe protesting violence against women

Violence against women and girls remains largely unreported due to the impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding it.

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Thousands marched across France and Italy protesting violence against women on Saturday – two days before the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. 

Those demonstrating protested all forms of violence against women – whether it be sexual, physical, psychological and economic. 

The United Nations designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The goal is to raise awareness of the violence women are subjected to and the reality that the scale and nature of the issue is often hidden. 

Activists demonstrated partially naked in Rome, hooded in balaclavas to replicate the gesture of Iranian student Ahoo Daryaei, who stripped in front of a university in Tehran to protest the country’s regime. 

In France, demonstrations were planned in dozens of cities like Paris, Marseille and Lille. 

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More than 400 organisations reportedly called for demonstrations across the country amidst widespread shock caused by the Pelicot mass rape trial. 

Violence against women and girls remains one of the most prevalent and pervasive human rights violations in the world, according to the United Nations. Globally, almost one in three women have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence at least once in their life. 

For at least 51,100 women in 2023, the cycle of gender-based violence ended with their murder by partners or family members. That means a woman was killed every ten minutes. 

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Ron Ely, Star of TV’s Tarzan, Cause of Death Revealed

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Ron Ely, Star of TV’s Tarzan, Cause of Death Revealed


Ron Ely Dead: ‘Tarzan’ Actor Cause of Death Revealed — Obituary



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