Millstone

The Millstone: Week of October 11, 2026

Riverside Church ordered to pay $11.3 million, a former Maryland priest found guilty, and a Buffalo survivor rejects a $362 million settlement.

This week: a jury orders Riverside Church to pay $11.3 million, a former Maryland priest is found guilty, and a Buffalo survivor rejects a $362 million settlement.

Riverside Church ordered to pay $11.3 million

A New York jury awarded $11.3 million to a former player in the Riverside Church basketball program who was sexually abused as a teenager. The man, identified in court papers as J.M., testified that the program’s former sports director, Ernest “Ernie” Lorch, abused him “eight or nine” times in the spring of 1978. J.M., now 63, was 14 at the time.

Former Maryland priest found guilty

A Baltimore County jury found former priest William “Father Bill” Mannion Jr., 64, guilty of one count of child abuse and four counts of second-degree sex offenses for abusing a 10-year-old St. Agnes Catholic School student in Catonsville in 1994. Prosecutors said he used religious teachings and the threat of eternal damnation to manipulate the boy. He was taken into custody after the verdict, and sentencing is set for December 14.

Read more at SNAP · BishopAccountability

Buffalo survivor rejects a $362 million settlement

A survivor of abuse by a Buffalo Diocese priest, who says he was abused more than 100 times, is opposing the diocese’s $362 million bankruptcy settlement and calls the agreement an insult.

Worcester bishop planned to move an accused priest

Court records reported by The Boston Globe show Worcester Bishop Robert J. McManus planned to move the Rev. Alan J. Martineau to another parish after a teenage parishioner accused the priest of inappropriate touching. Nearly five months passed between the day McManus first heard the accusation and the day the diocese contacted authorities. Martineau became the only priest prosecuted as a result of Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s investigation, whose September 30 report tied 90 accused clergy members to 216 survivors in the Worcester Diocese alone.

Massachusetts voters want the deadlines gone

A new poll reported by Boston 25 News found that 84% of Massachusetts respondents support eliminating the civil statute of limitations for child sexual abuse lawsuits. Survivors and advocates are urging lawmakers to keep the reforms, known as Amendment 110, in the final version of a major health care bill. The changes are still pending.

Oklahoma church was warned about its youth pastor

Andrew Benton, 27, a youth pastor at Grace Chapel Pentecostal Church in Duncan and youth president for the Assembly of our Lord Jesus Christ, turned himself in on October 8 on child sex abuse charges after an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation probe. New court documents allege the church’s head pastor knew about Benton’s inappropriate behavior with young girls years before his arrest.

Read more at SNAP · BishopAccountability

Northern Ireland priest pleads guilty to 109 offences

Priest Edward Gallagher, 59, pleaded guilty to 109 sex offences at Londonderry Crown Court, including attempted sexual communication with a child under 16 and having indecent images of a child. The offences took place between June 2023 and April 2025. He will be sentenced in December, and the Catholic Bishop of Derry, Michael Router, said he would ask the Vatican to dismiss Gallagher from the priesthood.

Fairfield Prep settles for $1.1 million

Fairfield University agreed to pay $1.1 million to a former Fairfield College Preparatory School student who said a teacher sexually abused him between 2001 and 2005, according to his attorney, Mitchell Garabedian.

Arrests, charges, and a guilty plea

St. Louis County, Missouri: Former priest and convicted sex offender William F. Vatterott was arrested again after federal probation officers reportedly found five unauthorized devices at his home. SNAP

Lyon, France: Father Jean-Bernard Plessy, 63, former director of a well-known Catholic school, was arrested on suspicion of raping a female student, Le Monde reports. SNAP

Ottawa, Canada: Ottawa Catholic School Board teacher Nancy Lescarbeau, 52, faces eight charges, including sexual assault, involving a student in 2021 and 2022. SNAP

Shelby County, Alabama: Michael Roy Bridges, 70, a former performing arts director and assistant principal at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic School, was arrested a second time, now on a charge of disseminating child sexual abuse material. SNAP

Franklin County, Ohio: Scott Hartman, 49, a former Catholic Foundation executive, was indicted on charges including pandering sexually oriented material of a minor and grooming. He is due to be arraigned October 13. BishopAccountability

McCracken County, Kentucky: Jared Denney, 37, a former leader at Bellview Baptist Church, pleaded not guilty to grooming charges involving a minor. BishopAccountability

Johannesburg, South Africa: A 36-year-old pastor was arrested in connection with the murder of a four-month-old baby and the alleged rape of her mother during a ritual. Two of his wives are also in custody. BishopAccountability

Charges are allegations. Everyone charged is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

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How this is made: The Millstone uses AI to help gather, sort, and draft stories from public news reports. Chris reviews every issue before it goes out, and every story links to its original source.