Germany Church convicts Catholic ex-priest of abusing boy for several years The man was ordered to pay 10% of his income to a charity that supports victims of abuse. 07/06/2022
See Dutch prosecutors confirm Voice of Holland sexual misconduct probe Four men are under investigation linked to five reports received from women in the country's first major #MeToo scandal earlier this year. 26/04/2022
Portugal Probe into Portuguese church sex abuse receives nearly 300 claims A panel that began its inquiry in January has received witness statements from 290 alleged victims, with cases involving children as young as two years old. 12/04/2022
state of the union Europe's week: Fresh sanctions human trafficking & Hungary latest woes The EU will now target imports of Russian coal in a bid to weaken Moscow's war machine. 08/04/2022
USA Judge upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction Maxwell, a British socialite, was convicted in December of helping the millionaire Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse several teenage girls. 02/04/2022
world news Northern Ireland government formally apologises to child abuse victims The formal apology came more than five years after an inquiry into historical abuse at church institutions. 11/03/2022
France Former amateur football coach jailed for sexually abusing children The 49-year-old man was given an 18-year prison sentence by a Paris court. 11/03/2022
Spain Spain approves investigation into sexual abuse within Catholic Church The Spanish clergy has long been criticised for its failure to investigate allegations of sexual violence. 10/03/2022
world news Over 100 European suspects identified in online child abuse probe The long-running global investigation into online child abuse images was led by New Zealand. 02/03/2022
Germany German court convicts Catholic Church priest of abusing children The 70-year-old was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay victims €50,000 in damages. 25/02/2022
Italy Abuse survivors demand inquiry into Italian Catholic Church Advocates for victims of sex abuse by Italian clergy launched a campaign on Tuesday to demand an inquiry into the scope of the problem. 15/02/2022
United Kingdom Prince Andrew reaches settlement in Virginia Giuffre sexual abuse case A tentative settlement has been reached in a lawsuit accusing Prince Andrew of sexually abusing Virginia Giuffre when she was 17 years old, a court filing said. 15/02/2022
Portugal More than 200 allegations of sex abuse in Portuguese Catholic Church An independent committee was set up in January to examine historical sex abuse. 10/02/2022
Vatican Ex-pope asks for pardon over sex abuse scandal but denies wrongdoing A recent report found that Pope Benedict had failed to handle cases of sexual abuse at the Munich diocese. 08/02/2022
Spain Spain moves closer to investigation into Catholic Church sex abuse Spain's Bishops Conference has now refused an official inquiry into allegations of priest abuse. 01/02/2022
no comment Thousands protest against 'rape culture' in Uruguay Thousands of women took the streets of the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo on Friday, to protest against a rape case that has shocked the country. 29/01/2022
Netherlands Nicky Verstappen: Dutch court convicts man of 1998 child killing The abduction and killing of the 11-year-old boy shocked the Netherlands and had remained unsolved for over 20 years. 28/01/2022
Spain Spain: Left-wing parties call for inquiry commission into church abuse The call by Podemos, ERC (The Republican Left of Catalonia), and EH Bildu (Euskal Herria Bildu) follows a 3-year newspaper investigation and similar inquiries in other European countries. 27/01/2022
Vatican Vatican defends Pope Benedict XVI over fighting clergy sexual abuse The Vatican's comments followed the publication of an independent report that faulted Benedict's handling of four cases of abuse when he was archbishop of Munich in Germany. 27/01/2022
Vatican Ex-Pope Benedict XVI admits attending meeting about abusive priest The retired Pope had denied attending the meeting to the investigators but says his statement had mistakes in it due to editing "oversight". 24/01/2022
Vatican Pope Francis pledges justice for sex abuse victims after Munich report A lawyers' report found that Benedict XVI had mishandled four cases of sexual abuse in the clergy while archbishop of Munich. 21/01/2022
Germany Ex-pope knew about sexual abuse as archbishop of Munich, says report A long-awaited report on sexual abuse in Germany’s Munich diocese has faulted retired Pope Benedict XVI’s handling of several cases when he was archbishop in the 1970s and 1980s. 20/01/2022
Biztech news Online child sexual abuse rose to record levels in 2021, says watchdog Child safety experts say younger children have been relying more and more on the internet during the pandemic and this is leaving them more vulnerable to online sexual exploitation. 14/01/2022
United Kingdom Prince Andrew returns military affiliations amid sexual abuse case Queen Elizabeth's third child is being accused by Virginia Guiffre of sexually abusing her when she was 17 and being trafficked by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. 13/01/2022
Greece Landmark rape trial of sailing coach begins after #MeToo revelations Triantafyllos Apostolou is accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old sailing federation athlete in 2010. 12/01/2022
USA Prince Andrew's lawyers ask US court to throw out sex abuse claims The prince’s lawyers say that a 2009 deal Virginia Giuffre struck with financier Jeffrey Epstein should prevent her from suing Andrew now, even though he wasn’t a party to it. 04/01/2022