National Roundup

Washington
Feds charge ex-priest with child sex crimes in East Timor
A federal grand jury has indicted a defrocked American priest on charges of having sex with minors while running a children’s shelter in a remote part of East Timor.

Richard Daschbach, 84, faces seven counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct at the Topu Honis shelter that he founded decades ago in the mountains of the predominantly Catholic island country south of Indonesia. A Department of Justice spokesperson said Monday she could not comment on whether there are plans to extradite the former priest who is currently on trial in East Timor for the same allegations.

If convicted in the U.S., Daschbach could receive up to 30 years in prison for each count, according to the indictment returned Thursday by a grand jury in Washington, D.C.

He also is wanted in the U.S. for three counts of wire fraud linked to one of his California-based donors, which accused him in a court case of violating an agreement to protect those under his care. An Interpol Red Notice has been issued internationally for his arrest.

Daschbach, who remains revered by many in East Timor, went on trial there in February to face charges he sexually abused young girls in his care at the shelter for orphans and impoverished children. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

The trial, which is closed to the public, was delayed several times until resuming in July. It marks the first clergy sex abuse case in the place with the highest percentage of Catholics outside the Vatican.

Daschbach’s lawyers in East Timor have not made their legal strategy public, and court proceedings are closed. But documents seen by The Associated Press indicated they would argue he was the victim of a conspiracy.
He and his lawyer have in the past declined to be interviewed by The AP.

The church defrocked Daschbach in 2018, saying he had confessed to sexually abusing children, but he maintains strong alliances. Former President Xanana Gusmao, revered as a freedom fighter, has openly supported Daschbach by going to court with him. Daschbach, himself, is hailed for his role in saving lives during the tiny nation’s bloody struggle for independence from Indonesia.

Daschbach, the son of a Pittsburgh steelworker, started Topu Honis in 1992 in the remote enclave of Oecusse. Foreign donors, tourists and others often visited and helped support the shelter.

Virginia
Supreme Court rules for teacher in transgender controversy
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Supreme Court of Virginia has upheld a lower court ruling that ordered the reinstatement of a northern Virginia gym teacher who said he won’t refer to transgender students by their preferred pronouns.

Loudoun County Public Schools appealed to the state Supreme Court after a judge ruled that the school system violated the free speech rights of teacher Tanner Cross by suspending him after he spoke up at a school board meeting.

Cross, a teacher at Leesburg Elementary, cited his religious convictions at a May board meeting in which the school board debated proposed changes to its policies in treatment of transgender students. Cross said he would not use transgender students’ preferred pronouns.

School boards across the state have been revising their policies to be more inclusive of transgender students in accordance with a new state law. But Loudoun County, outside the nation’s capital, has been a particular flashpoint in the debate over not just transgender students but also how students learn about racism and race relations.

The school system said it suspended Cross in part because his comments caused a disruption at the school. But the lower court judge, James Plowman, and the state Supreme Court agreed that the handful of calls fielded by school administrators did not cause the type of disruption that warranted a suspension.

Tuesday’s ruling leaves in place a temporary injunction that bars the school system from suspending Cross. A trial is scheduled for next week in Loudoun County to settle the issue permanently.

Since Cross filed his lawsuit in May, two additional teachers in Loudoun County have joined him as plaintiffs.

Washington
Proposed deal could end fight over 2020 census documents
A House oversight committee and the Commerce Department have reached an understanding that could lead to a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the legislative panel after the Trump administration ignored subpoenas for records on how the 2020 census was conducted.

Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform and their staffers will be able to review the documents in person and take notes, but won’t be able to make copies, under the proposed deal filed in court Monday.
The House committee had been working with the Commerce Department toward an agreement since January when President Joe Biden took office.

The House committee originally sued Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in November 2019, while President Donald Trump was in office, for refusing to produce documents related to a decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The Supreme Court stopped the question from being added to the census form.

A year later, the House committee requested documents about anomalies found in the census data that may have caused delays in releasing the numbers used for determining how many congressional seats each state gets and for drawing congressional and legislative districts.


Washington
$6 million settlement for child abused by bowling coach
SEATTLE (AP) — Attorneys say they have reached a $6 million settlement over the sexual abuse of a child by his Seattle-area bowling instructor.

The boy was abused from 2012 to 2017, beginning when he was 12.

The coach, Ty Treddenbarger, is serving 25 years in prison for child molestation and child pornography. He drugged and abused boys at his home and at hotels during out-of-town tournaments.

Attorneys Darrell Cochran and Andrew Ulmer filed the lawsuit against the sport’s governing body, the United States Bowling Congress, and other defendants. In a statement Monday, the USBC said its insurer agreed to pay the settlement.

It said Treddenbarger was not its employee and was not directly supervised by the organization. He had passed background checks required for local coaching certification, and it had never received a complaint about him before its arrest.

“USBC hopes for the best for the member involved and that the settlement may assist in his recovery,” the organization said.