Nation briefs 9/20/02

Man indicted on charges of mailing anthrax letters

PHILADELPHIA -- A man who once claimed to be on a mission from God to kill abortion providers was indicted Thursday on charges he mailed hundreds of anthrax hoax letters to women's clinics in 24 states last fall.

The federal indictment also charged Clayton Lee Waagner with posting an allegedly threatening message on an anti-abortion Web site that said he had been following clinic doctors and knew where they lived.

"Regardless of one's position on the life-choice issue, chilling death threats are a perversion," U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan said. "It is terrorism, it is emotional violence, it is wrong."

Waagner, 45, was on the FBI's most wanted list when he was captured in December, 10 months after escaping from jail in Illinois. He was caught at a copy shop outside Cincinnati after an employee recognized him from his wanted poster.

$10-million settlement reached in abuse case

BOSTON -- A $10 million settlement between the Boston Archdiocese and 86 alleged victims of child-molesting priest John Geoghan won final approval Thursday, six months after the church backed out of a much costlier agreement.

A $10 million check from the archdiocese was given to the plaintiffs' attorney, Mitchell Garabedian.

The last obstacle to the settlement was removed when Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney approved a request from a 17-year-old boy to participate in the settlement.

Sweeney addressed the alleged victims who appeared in court, saying she wanted to acknowledge their pain and make clear that the settlement means the court recognizes Geoghan did what they said.

"I hope you are able to recognize in yourselves not just the hurt that was done to you but your own resilience, your courage," she said.

An earlier settlement worth up to $30 million had been announced in May, but the archdiocese backed out of that deal soon afterward, saying it could not afford the deal because of hundreds of other lawsuits being filed.

Separated twins may be released next month

LOS ANGELES -- Guatemalan twins who were born joined at the head and were separated by surgeons last month may be able to return home within six weeks, doctors said.

Maria Teresa Quiej Alvarez and her sister, Maria de Jesus, 1-year-olds separated in a 22-hour surgery Aug. 6, remain in serious but stable condition at UCLA's Mattel Children's Hospital.

Despite the complex surgery, which required cutting through bone and redirecting shared blood vessels, doctors are encouraged by their recovery.

"The twins are much better today than they were last week," said Dr. Jorge Lazareff, the pediatric neurosurgeon coordinating the girls' care. "Guatemala has very good medical care and is eager to take them."

The acute care will end by the end of October, and the girls may be released then, Lazareff said Wednesday.

Missing foster children total wrong, study says

MIAMI -- A state task force says a list of almost 400 "missing" foster children is exaggerated, with many now considered chronic runaways and few in any physical danger.

In a statewide search of the children listed as missing in August by the Department of Children & Families, 139 out of 393 of the children have been located, the study said.

The task force is still looking for 242 remaining names on the "missing" list, many of whom investigators believe are considered chronic runaways or taken by noncustodial parents.

Only seven were cases in which "the juvenile's physical safety is in danger," the study said.

A large number of the children were found to be living with noncustodial parents, relatives or friends. Others were fugitives with arrest warrants and some were found in jails. Still others have become adults since their name was first put on the "missing" list, the task force said.

The belief that there are hundreds of missing kids is "a myth that should have been dispelled a long time ago," said Carlos Alvarez, director of Miami-Dade County police.-- From wire reports