Clergy abuse fallout among top Pa. stories of 2019
(Getty Images)
One of the top stories of 2018 — the Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy sex abuse and the Roman Catholic Church’s efforts to cover it up — continued to reverberate strongly in 2019.
After years of delay and debate, Pennsylvania revamped its child sexual abuse laws to make it easier for some victims to sue and for police to file charges. The legislation, signed by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf last month, was approved more than a year after the grand jury found that senior church leaders concealed abuse by hundreds of Catholic priests since the 1940s.
Catholic dioceses from Erie to Philadelphia, meanwhile, launched compensation funds and paid nearly $84 million to 564 clergy abuse victims.
RELATED COVERAGE:
- Pennsylvania priests molested over 1,000 children, per report
- Key dates in the Pennsylvania church abuse scandal
- Nearly 1,700 priests ‘credibly accused’ of child sex abuse living with no oversight
- Pope abolishes 'pontifical secret' in clergy sex abuse cases
The ongoing clergy abuse scandal was among the top Pennsylvania stories of 2019. The state’s key role in the upcoming presidential election, a decision to seek the death penalty in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, and things that went boom (and bust) were some others.
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POLITICAL PRELIMINARIES
Former Vice President Joe Biden pledged to bridge the country's deepening divide at a Philadelphia rally in May.
The 2020 presidential election campaign got underway as former Vice President — and Scranton native — Joe Biden launched his candidacy in Philadelphia. President Donald Trump, hoping for a repeat of his 2016 victory in battleground Pennsylvania, made four trips to the state this year.
The November off-year election saw a Democratic sweep of Philadelphia’s populous suburbs, traditionally a bellwether for statewide candidates. Voters approved a referendum to enshrine rights for crime victims in the state constitution, but a legal challenge threatened to derail the effort.
Most counties debuted new voting machines mandated by the Wolf administration in an effort to improve election security.
RELATED COVERAGE:
- Joe Biden chooses Philadelphia as campaign headquarters
- Dems sweep through suburban Philadelphia counties
- Philadelphia voting machines challenged in federal court
- $90M for Pa. voting machines, mail-in ballots signed into law
PURSUING DEATH
The gunman behind a Pittsburgh synagogue shooting left 11 people dead and six others injured. (Getty Images)
Federal prosecutors announced in August they would seek the death penalty for a man charged with killing 11 people inside a Pittsburgh synagogue.
The shooting suspect had offered to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence.
The former truck driver is charged with hate crimes and other offenses in the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. Authorities said the suspect expressed hatred of Jews during and after the October 2018 rampage at Tree of Life synagogue.
No trial date has been set.
The Pittsburgh City Council tried imposing new gun restrictions in the wake of the massacre, but a judge struck the legislation down in October, noting that Pennsylvania state law forbids municipalities from regulating firearms. City officials vowed to appeal.
RELATED COVERAGE:
- 11 dead, 6 injured in Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
- Police: Synagogue gunman said he wanted all Jews to die
- Pittsburgh synagogue shooting suspect to face death penalty
NEGATIVE ENERGY
Whether old or new, the state’s energy infrastructure was in the news for all the wrong reasons.
On June 21, a blaze and a series of explosions shook homes and caused extensive damage at Philadelphia Energy Solutions’ oil refinery, the largest on the East Coast. The company shuttered the 150-year-old site and laid off workers. Federal investigators blamed an aging elbow pipe that hadn’t been inspected in decades.
In November, The Associated Press reported that the FBI had launched a corruption investigation into how the Wolf administration issued permits for construction on the problem-plagued Mariner East pipeline.
The FBI is investigating how Gov. Tom Wolf's administration came to issue permits for construction on a multibillion-dollar pipeline project to carry highly volatile natural gas liquids across Pennsylvania.
Three Mile Island, meanwhile, passed into history. Chicago-based Exelon Corp. said the plant outside Harrisburg — site of the nation’s worst commercial nuclear power accident, in 1979 — was losing money.
RELATED COVERAGE:
- Explosions, fire rock South Philadelphia oil refinery
- Report calls for ‘cleaner, safer’ future for Philadelphia refinery site
- Aging, thin pipe likely cause of Philadelphia refinery fire
CRIME & COURTS
Jerry Sandusky was resentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison for child sex abuse.
Jerry Sandusky’s bid for a reduced prison term was thwarted after a judge gave him the same sentence, 30 to 60 years, that was imposed in the wake of his 2012 conviction for sexually abusing children. An appeals court had ordered a new hearing for the former Penn State assistant football coach.
Another figure in the Sandusky scandal won a reprieve when a federal judge threw out the child endangerment conviction of former Penn State President Graham Spanier just hours before he was to start serving a two-month jail sentence.
Michael Rosfeld, 30, is charged in the shooting death of Antwon Rose II after a traffic stop in East Pittsburgh.
In March, a jury cleared a white police officer of homicide in the fatal shooting of black teenager Antwon Rose II outside Pittsburgh, in a case that sparked weeks of unrest. Rose’s family settled its civil rights suit for $2 million.
RELATED COVERAGE:
- Jerry Sandusky resentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison
- Judge throws out ex-Penn State president's conviction
- AP Exclusive: FBI eyes how Pa. approved Mariner East pipeline
On June 17, authorities seized nearly 20 tons of cocaine from the ship in what they described as one of the largest drug busts in American history. The cocaine has a street value of about $1.3 billion.
On the other side of the state, federal law enforcement officials made the bust of a lifetime when they raided a container ship at Philadelphia’s port and discovered more than $1 billion worth of cocaine, one of the largest caches ever intercepted on U.S. shores.
Meek Mill's negotiated plea came after an appeals court threw out his conviction over doubts about the arresting officer's credibility.
Philadelphia rapper-turned-criminal justice reformer Meek Mill pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge, resolving a 2007 criminal case whose twists and turns had kept him on probation or in prison for most of his adult life.
RELATED COVERAGE:
- Former police officer acquitted in fatal shooting of Antwon Rose
- Six charged, 17.5 tons of cocaine seized in historic drug bust at Philadelphia port
- Meek Mill pleads guilty to misdemeanor; all other charges dropped
KEYSTONE KORRUPTION
It wouldn’t be Pennsylvania without a public official or five free-falling from grace.
The mayor of Scranton, Democrat Bill Courtright, resigned from office and pleaded guilty to shaking down businesses for bribes and campaign contributions.
Sen. Mike Folmer was charged with possession of child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility, both felonies.
Republican state Sen. Mike Folmer of Lebanon County was charged with having child pornography on his cellphone. He faces trial next year.
Rep. Brian Ellis resigned two months after being stripped of a chairmanship following allegations that he had sex with an incapacitated woman against her will.
State Rep. Brian Ellis, a Republican from Butler County, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman four years ago. Following a grand jury’s recommendation, prosecutors opted not to bring a case.
Both legislators resigned.
Movita Johnson-Harrell, 53, won a special election in March for a West Philadelphia district.
Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, a Democrat from Philadelphia, was charged with stealing $500,000 from charity and spending it on fur coats, a Porsche and travel to Mexico and Florida. She disputed many of the allegations while acknowledging “some missteps.” She resigned, too.
John Dougherty, who leads the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, been indicted on embezzlement and fraud charges.
And in Philadelphia, a city councilman and a powerful union boss were indicted on bribery charges.
Kane resigned after being convicted in 2016 of perjury, obstruction and other counts for leaking grand jury material to a Philadelphia newspaper and lying about it.
Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, meanwhile, got out of prison after serving eight months for leaking grand jury material and lying about it.
RELATED COVERAGE:
- Pa. state senator charged with possession of child pornography
- Pennsylvania lawmaker facing sex assault claim quits House
- West Philadelphia lawmaker charged with stealing from nonprofit
- Feds indict Johnny Doc, Councilman Bobby Henon in corruption probe
- 'Grateful': Ex-AG Kathleen Kane released from prison
MISCELLANY
(Erie Firefighters)
Investing legend John Bogle, the Vanguard Group founder who launched the first index mutual fund, died at 89. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate hit a record low of 3.8% in April before drifting back up to more than 4% later in the year. Five children died in a fire at a home-based day care center in Erie. The 21-story former world headquarters of defunct steelmaker Bethlehem Steel was demolished.
RELATED COVERAGE:
- Pennsylvania's unemployment rate, payrolls set new records
- Day care fire that killed 5 children blamed on extension cord
- Defunct Bethlehem steelmaker headquarters imploded
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