Sexual offences in Ireland are set to be investigated from start to finish by a dedicated unit within the public prosecutions service, it has emerged.

Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson has defended Woody Allen amidst sexual abuse allegations against him from his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow.

A number of survivors of sex abuse in day schools have accepted settlements offered to them by the Department of Education after an independent review directed the Government to do so.

Eleven people have appeared in court charged with over 200 counts relating to the alleged rape, sexual exploitation, and neglect of children.

The Diocese of Kerry handled one allegation of sexual abuse of a child by the former Bishop Eamon Casey and the person involved was given counselling, the diocese has confirmed.

R.Kelly has requested through his lawyer Steve Greenberg to be allowed travel on a private jet to Dubai next month for a series of concerts according to The Chicago Sun Times.

Catholic religious orders from around the world have apologised for having failed to respond when their priests raped children, acknowledging that their family-like communities blinded them to sexual abuse and led to misplaced loyalties, denial and cover-ups.

A judge in France has refused to block the release in French cinemas of a film based on a Catholic sex scandal.

The Paris prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into alleged "sexual aggression" by Luigi Ventura, the Vatican's envoy to France, according to a judicial official.

Streaming numbers for R Kelly's music have nearly doubled since the release of a documentary series accusing him of sexual misconduct.

Scouting Ireland says it is deeply sorry for the hurt caused in the past and has promised a victim-led response, after a review found 108 children may have been abused.

A support group for victims of sexual abuse has warned that it cannot cater to the demand for its programme to rehabilitate offenders — and that victims feel demeaned by the Irish criminal justice system.

Australian prosecutors have said they will appeal for a tougher sentence for the most senior Roman Catholic cleric convicted of covering up child sex abuse.

Al Porter has issued a statement this evening in the midst of an ongoing investigation into allegations of misconduct at St. Patrick's Hospital.

Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Vatican official to be charged in the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis, must stand trial on sexual assault charges, a court has ruled.

The charity watchdog is to begin its inquiry into Oxfam following the aid worker sex scandal which resulted in the resignation of one of its most senior figures in the UK.

A former sports doctor has been sentenced to a third prison term of 40 to 125 years behind bars for molesting young athletes at an elite Michigan training centre.

It would be entirely inappropriate for the government to start a Commission of Investigation into paedophile Bill Kenneally if it risks damaging other inquiries, the Tánaiste has suggested.

Australian actor Craig McLachlan has left a stage show and production of a television series he was to star in has been suspended after three actresses accused him of indecent assault, sexual harassment and bullying.

New York's Metropolitan Opera has said it will open an investigation into allegations that its longtime conductor, James Levine, sexually abused a man three decades ago beginning when the man was a teenager.

A complainant has said she was "absolutely not" paid to speak publicly now about her alleged sexual encounter with US Senate candidate Roy Moore when she was 14.

Tony Blair has told how he recognises some of the descriptions of abuse in Westminster but said "it wasn't something I got involved in".

The last ground breaking research was published in 2002 and did not include male victims or social media.

A female teacher who had a "full-blown sexual relationship" with a 15-year-old schoolboy has been jailed for 16 months.

Officers investigating non-recent sexual abuse at football clubs in London have said they are looking into 255 allegations involving 77 clubs or teams, including the capital's five Premier League clubs, the Metropolitan Police said.

A Catholic priest has been cleared by a jury of historical allegations that he sexually abused nine girls and one boy.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan “did not want” to know about sex abuse allegations involving children while he was health minister in the 1990s, a former Fine Gael colleague has claimed.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell is reportedly planning to order an independent examination of every diocese in the Republic to establish if any serving priests pose a threat to children.

A school where six boys were sexually abused by another pupil is facing legal action by one of the victims, it was confirmed tonight.

Six boys were victims of multiple sex abuse at a top fee-paying school, a damning report revealed today.