Category: Priest Sexual Abuse

May 5th, 2008

Diocese Ignored Sex Abuse Claims Against Priest: Vermont

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Vermont has been sued over allegations that the Bishop ignored previous allegations of sexual abuse when the Diocese hired Rev. Edward Paquette.

In a trial that started this week, Monsignor John McSweeney, who was chancellor of the Vermont diocese and handled details of hiring priests for then-Bishop John Marshall in the 1970s, testified that he did not know about such allegations until he reviewed church documents recently.

The documents, which chronicle the steps the Vermont diocese took while considering whether to hire Paquette in 1972, include several mentions of the alleged misconduct in letters from out-of-state church officials to McSweeney.

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October 5th, 2007

Judge Expands Abuse Claim Time Limits…Catches Up to Canada

by stemwebadmin

Judge John R. O’Malley denied the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph summary judgment Friday, after hearing arguments based on Powel v. Chaminade, which added new wording to how the statute of limitations can be applied in sexual abuse claims. The ruling allows a court to consider when a plaintiff not only recalled the alleged abuse, but recognized the harm it inflicted.
O’Malley’s decision allowed the lawsuit to proceed to a jury verdict. The Diocese settled within days.
The ruling means Missouri’s law is now similar to Canada. The 1992 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, M (K) v M (H), removed a major barrier to lawsuits by ruling that provincial limitation periods do not begin to run until the plaintiff is reasonably capable of discovering the wrongful nature of the defendant’s acts and the nexus between those acts and the plaintiff’s injuries.
Nova Scotia became the first Province to amend its Limitation of Actions Act to provide that the limitation period for sexual abuse cases does not start to run until the victim is aware of the full extent of the abuse and the injury suffered. In 1994, British Columbia amended its Limitation Act to eliminate all limitations for causes of action ‘based on misconduct of a sexual nature’ or ‘based on sexual assault’. The rest of the Provinces enacted similar legislation shortly thereafter.

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September 11th, 2007

Cape Breton Priest Changes Story on Sexual Assault

by stemwebadmin

Catholic priest and convicted pedophile Claude Richard has changed his story about how times he sexually abused his victim. Richard pleaded guilty in June to assaulting the boy 20 to 30 times over a four-month period in 1987 but during his sentencing hearing Richard claimed to have had a “one night stand” with his 14 year old victim.
Claude Richard has pleaded guilty or been convicted of dozens of charges of sexually abusing children, many of whom were altar boys in various parishes throughout Cape Breton.
15 years ago I sued Claude Richard and his pedophile twin brother, Clair Richard on behalf of a dozen of their sexual abuse victims. During his examination for discovery Claude Richard denied, under oath, having sexually abused my clients… after he had already pleaded guilty to criminal charges of sexual assault against the same victims!
I have to wonder if there is some genetic connection between being a pedophile and being a pathological liar!

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September 9th, 2007

Bishop to Suspend Priest for “Abusive Cult Practices”?

by stemwebadmin

The Globe and Mail reports Anglican authorities have begun investigating the activities of a retired Anglican priest who was headmaster for two decades of a now-closed private Christian school where alleged abusive cult practices were carried out.
Bishop George Bruce is considering whether to exercise his authority under Canon Law to “inhibit” – suspend the priestly duties- of Rev. Charles Farnsworth.
Anglican Canon law specifically allows for inhibition in disciplinary inquiries “if it appears to the bishop that great scandal is likely to arise if a priest continues to perform the duties of his or her office while a charge is under investigation…”
Over the last 15 years I have represented many victims of clergy sexual abuse and read the reports of hundreds of other cases. I am not aware of any case where a Bishop has publically stated that he would exercise his power of inhibition. Bishop Bruce is to be commended for acting so quickly after the accusations became public. But it begs the question, what are the allegations that he thinks will cause “great scandal”? The details that have come out so far are pretty bizarre, involving accusations of physical abuse and psychological brainwashing.
This story is one to watch. Kathy Shaw has posted a number of stories about Farnsworth on the Abuse Tracker blog.

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September 8th, 2007

Bankrupt Diocese Settles Priest Sexual Abuse Claims

by stemwebadmin

Yesterday the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego reached a settlement to compensate 144 victims of sexual abuse by priests within the Diocese.
The settlement will pay victims an average of 1.37 million dollars, slightly higher than the landmark $660 million settlement announced by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which will see average pay outs of 1.3 million dollars.
The settlement came after the San Diego Diocese declared bankruptcy to protect it’s assests from the lawsuits filed by abuse victims. The Judge monitoring the Diocese’s bankruptcy proceedings, Bankruptcy Judge Louise DeCarl Adler, was highly critical of the Diocese’s conduct during the proceedings, stating that the financial reports filed by the Church contained “irregularities” and undervalued Church assets. At one point, the Judge threatened to dimiss the bankruptcy altogether, ending the protection from victim’s lawsuits.
The settlement requires the Diocese to release internal documents proving the sexual abuse and the extent that Chuch officials were aware of the pedophile priests within the Diocese.
You can read more here.

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September 8th, 2007

Nuns Pay for Priest Sexual Abuse

by stemwebadmin

In a move that is sure to generate sympathy for the Church, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has stated it’s intention to sell one of it’s convents to help raise money to meet it’s obligations under the $660 million abuse claims settlement.
It is unfortunate and unfair that the nuns who live in the convent will have to find another place to live because of the actions of pervert priests. But, it is important to remember who is responsible for this sad state of affairs. Not the victims of sexual abuse who had their lives destroyed. It is the predator priests who sexually abused children in their parishes and those in authority in the Church that knew about the abuse, covered it up, and allowed it to continue.
When is some journalist going to publish a story with the names of all the priests that covered up the sexual abuse for so many years? Then maybe the public can hold the proper people accountable.

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September 8th, 2007

Sexual Abuse Settlements Empower Victims to Come Forward

by stemwebadmin

Frank Douglas has posted another interesting article about the Los Angeles priest abuse settlement on his Voice from the Desert blog.
He highlights an important part of the Los Angeles settlement (perhaps the most important part); the requirement for the Archdiocese to release to the public documents about it’s knowlege of the predatory habits of the Archdiocese’s sexually abusive priests.
Sexual abuse thrives on secrecy. Sexual predators manipulate their victims through shame and guilt. The article points out that:
when the predators’ names come out, other victims of the same perpetrator are often empowered to come forward.
Unfortunately, in some cases the names come out too late. In one case I am currently involved in David Martin took his own life because he could no longer deal with the pain of the sexual abuse he had suffered at the hands of Father Hugh Vincent MacDonald. His suicide note disclosing the abuse launched a police investigation that uncovered dozens of MacDonald’s sexual abuse victims, most of whom I now represent. Unfortunately MacDonald died before he could be tried and convicted, robbing his victims of the opportunity to hold him accountable.

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September 8th, 2007

Do Myths About Child Abuse Explain The Church Sex Abuse Scandals?

by stemwebadmin

I read an interesting story comparing myths and facts about child sexual abuse. The author points to research which suggests one reason why the Catholic Church has had such difficulty coming to terms with the reality of sexual abuse by it’s priests:
Males are less likely to believe victims complaints – particularly when sexual abuse is involved. Female respondents were more likely to believe victims who speak up. Males were more likely to believe children who made allegations of physical abuse. Men were not so likely to believe allegations of sexual abuse.
This is an interesting finding that needs more investigation. It could explain why it was so difficult to convince predominantly male law enforcement of the pervasive nature of this problem in our society and why it was so hard for the male leadership of the church to believe that their male colleagues were abusing children.
I have represented hundreds of victims of childhood sexual abuse and dozens of victims of priest sexual abuse. In most of those cases I was not convinced that the “male leadership of the church” did not believe the victim. On the contrary, the allegations were believed but the sexual offender was simply shuffled off to a different parish to continue his predations.
However I agree wholeheartedly with one of the authors conclusions:
None of us is immune to making assumptions. It is important to note, however, that these perceptions can and do influence treatment, investigations and community responses. Raising our awareness about these perceptions can help us be open to dealing with the situations that arise before us with integrity, compassion and empathy.
When we do that, we open the door to those who are suffering in our midst to speak up and tell us about their pain. That is the beginning of healing.
Take a look at the rest of the story here.

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September 8th, 2007

Clergy Sex Abuse Settlements Just the Tip of the Iceberg?

by stemwebadmin

Sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests has cost the Catholic Church 2.3 BILLION dollars in settlements since 1950. The Journalgazette.net has published a story listing more than a billion dollars in abuse claim pay outs in the last four years alone.
Since the Catholic Church commonly insists on confidentiality when they settle lawsuits, one has to ask if these figures are just the tip of the iceberg.

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August 17th, 2007

Diocese Hiding Assets to Avoid Paying Sexual Abuse Judgements?

by stemwebadmin

Andrew Sullivan has posted about the debate surrounding the San Diego Roman Catholic Diocese’s bankruptcy as a result of abuse claims. It appears the bankruptcy is being challenged due to allegations that the Diocese and some of it’s parishes have been hiding assets in an effort to avoid paying compensation to survivors of clergy sexual abuse.
It is generally accepted at law that all the assets of a Diocese, including those of it’s parishes, may be liquidated to satisfy civil judgements. The article states:
In response to the priest sex abuse liability crisis, there is a growing trend for diocesan assets to be divided among multiple incorporated entities.
In Canada the Christian Brothers of Ireland in Canada was the first charity in the Commonwealth to be wound up for tort liability (arising from the notorious Mt. Cashel abuse scandal.
In Canada there is an alternative argument to be made to prevent such egregious tactics by Churches. In the case of Re Winding up of the Christian Brothers of Ireland in Canada the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled:
When a charitable corporation is wound up, it ceases to carry out its charitable purposes, including the obligation to use assets held in trust for any special purposes. Hence, all assets held by the corporation, whether as a special purpose trust or not, were exigible to pay the tort claims made against the corporation.
Any assets held by an incorporated entity under Diocese are held for the charitable use and purpose of the Diocese. When that charitable purpose ends, so does any protection that the assets might have. Put simply, what could be less charitable than a Church trying to hide it’s assets from legitimate victims of sexual abuse?

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