Judy Thomas
@judylthomas
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Reporter, Kansas City Star. Covers domestic terrorism and extremist groups and focuses on watchdog journalism.
Kansas City, MO
Joined January 2010
"He is thankful that he was able to come forward and be heard." A lawsuit filed last year alleging that IHOPKC leaders failed to act when a minor boy was sexually harassed, abused and bullied at a youth retreat in Oklahoma in 2023 has been settled. https://t.co/0rdAiEwvTp
kansascity.com
IHOPKC leaders witnessed several acts of bullying and abuse toward the minor plaintiff and failed to intervene, the lawsuit alleged.
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A longtime Kansas City firefighter has had 6 DWI cases, three charged as felonies. Yet he remains on the job even after racking up 11 probation violations in an ongoing case. https://t.co/JmpXaVWhJM
kansascity.com
In a July 2023 arrest — just five months after a previous arrest — his minor children were riding with him and his speed was clocked at 87 mph.
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NEW: The KCK archbishop has reinstated a priest he temporarily suspended in August, saying investigations found that he violated no civil or church laws. But Archbishop Shawn McKnight imposed some restrictions on the priest's activities involving minors. https://t.co/ApX2CLiWu8
kansascity.com
Along with the reinstatement, the archbishop placed some restrictions on the Rev. Jerry Arano-Ponce’s activities involving minors.
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A decade ago, Jeremy Lillig was being celebrated in a class of “Rising Stars of Philanthropy" here in Kansas City. Last week, he was charged with wire fraud, accused of stealing roughly $155,000 while running the Catholic Church's Bright Futures Fund.
kansascity.com
An indictment filed in federal court accused Jeremy Lillig of stealing more than $150,000 from the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.
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A Kansas City fire captain is charged with assaulting a fellow firefighter at a KC Current soccer match last year. He remains on the job. https://t.co/JeZAuav5SI
kansascity.com
The alleged assault occurred during a Kansas City Current soccer match, and the victim was on duty at the time.
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A former longtime Kansas City firefighter pleaded guilty Friday to assaulting a fellow firefighter last year in an incident that co-workers said ended when they pulled him off the victim. https://t.co/JRyGMBcqHA
kansascity.com
Brian Taylor “recklessly caused injury” to a fellow KC firefighter, the charging document says.
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The man charged in the April shooting death of a Catholic priest in northeast Kansas may be incompetent to stand trial, his lawyer said in a court document filed Tuesday. https://t.co/gpFgqhClMT
kansascity.com
Gary Hermesch is charged with first-degree murder in the April 3 shooting death of the Rev. Arul Carasala, a Catholic priest in Seneca, Kansas.
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International House of Prayer-Kansas City founder Mike Bickle has violated Scripture and should be permanently disqualified from any kind of church leadership position, a team of church officials and professional therapists said in a new report. https://t.co/iiqjXgJLui
kansascity.com
A return by IHOPKC founder Mike Bickle to any church leadership role, the panel wrote in its report, would not be “scripturally sound.”
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NEW: Kansas City has renewed its effort to override an arbitrator’s order that the firefighter driving the pumper truck involved in a 2021 multi-fatality crash in Westport get his job back and serve just a three-day suspension without pay. https://t.co/ijNYidIbbn
kansascity.com
“While we support our employees, we believe there must be consequences to unlawful actions committed while on duty,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said.
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The pastor of Cure of Ars Catholic Church in Leawood has resigned amid a criminal investigation now underway by Prairie Village police, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas has announced. https://t.co/QSriWvpHZ7
kansascity.com
The Rev. Richard Storey informed the archdiocese on Wednesday of his decision to resign, the archdiocese said in a statement posted online.
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Five Kansas City Fire Department employees who have been involved in motor vehicle tragedies or convicted of serious felonies over the years weren't disciplined and were allowed to remain on the job, a new court filing reveals. https://t.co/urXDS1RCHh
kansascity.com
The firefighters’ crimes include a federal drug case and a felony assault conviction.
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A Kansas City fire truck driver involved in the deadly 2021 crash in Westport that killed 3 people must get his job back, receive full back wages and benefits and serve a 3-day suspension without pay, an arbitrator has ruled. https://t.co/UGz5UIFggk
kansascity.com
The arbitrator also authorized firefighter Dominic Biscari to drive a fire truck again.
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"This is a travesty." The case that first exposed profound abuse inside Missouri's unregulated religious boarding schools has ended without prison time for the former co-owner of Circle of Hope Girls Ranch. With @kclaurab
https://t.co/wnsYcfLRfe
kansascity.com
The sentencing caps a case that began in 2020 when current and former students of Circle of Hope Girls Ranch came forward with abuse allegations.
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The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas has temporarily removed a priest from ministry while investigations are conducted into allegations of questionable behavior, the archbishop announced this week. https://t.co/nW1QrS6r41
kansascity.com
The restrictions will remain in effect “pending the outcomes of formal investigations by local law enforcement and the Archdiocese.”
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Prefix Coffee is suing IHOPKC, claiming financial harm tied to a sex scandal involving founder Mike Bickle. The suit alleges contract breaches and negligence. “IHOPKC knew for years that wide-spread sexual abuse had corrupted the sectarian organization." https://t.co/Us8chEzXtj
kansascity.com
IHOPKC’s lease agreement with Prefix Coffee required all employees to sign a “sexual immorality agreement,” lawsuit says.
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After creating a firestorm over her sermon last week in support of IHOPKC founder Mike Bickle, his sister doubled down in a new message Sunday, raising further questions about whether a comeback is underway for the fallen charismatic leader. https://t.co/Fpp8FX3Kfg
kansascity.com
Sunday’s message was a sequel to Lisa Stribling’s Aug. 3 sermon, when she called the allegations against her brother “exotic trash.”
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Phil Baniewicz has been removed as president of Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park as an investigation continues into allegations of inappropriate behavior with a minor, the board of trustees announced. https://t.co/Y5db0pjENM
kansascity.com
The action came two months after the board placed Baniewicz on leave while investigating reports on his ability to oversee a safe environment.
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The failure to properly reinforce the entrance area of the Family Dollar store in Midtown after a 2016 car crash destroyed a key support column likely led to last week’s deadly collapse, a structural engineer told The Star. https://t.co/67fwFtQmcY
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The youngest sibling of embattled International House of Prayer-Kansas City founder Mike Bickle defended him during a church service Sunday, calling sex abuse allegations against him a “false narrative” and “exotic trash.” https://t.co/FzwbkWwUAZ
kansascity.com
The comments mark the first time a family member has spoken publicly about the sex abuse allegations against Mike Bickle.
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The Kansas City-based Boilermakers union is suing the president it ousted two years ago, demanding that Newton Jones pay back nearly $500,000 of union money it says he misused. https://t.co/w9XTM68yTu
kansascity.com
The lawsuit comes amid a federal corruption case that accuses former union leaders of scheming to steal $20 million in union funds.
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