BishopAccountability.org
	Court Ruling Forces Leaders to Ensure Public Is Safe Portland Press Herald [Maine] May 5, 2005 People seeking legal recourse against church leaders who failed to protect them from child sexual abuse may have a better chance to do so because of a Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruling. On Tuesday, the court ruled that Michael Fortin, a former altar boy and student at St. Mary's in Augusta, can sue both the priest who he claims abused him starting in 1985 and the church itself. Fortin said that the priest's superiors knew that the Rev. Raymond Melville posed a danger to parishioners and failed to protect them. The court's ruling will allow Fortin to make that case. It's a significant ruling because it limits the scope of a 1997 ruling that said the relationship between a bishop and a priest was off-limits to judicial review. The majority in Fortin's challenge, however, found that because of Fortin's age and involvement in the church, it had a particular duty to protect him. In addition, Justice Jon Levy pointed out that the public interest in preventing sexual abuse of children allowed the government to intervene. He's right about that. The Catholic church has made strides in dissolving the culture of silence that better protected abusive priests than its young parishioners, but its historical failures make this ruling vital. Abuse victims should have the opportunity to pursue recourse against those who failed to keep them safe. Two justices dissented, one of them writing that the rulings could invite lawsuits against "businesses, schools, camps, churches and youth sports organizations for real or perceived improprieties . . . that occur outside of the course and scope of the organizations' responsibilities." People should have the opportunity to make their cases, however. Whenever any such entities are aware of a public danger, that falls well within their scope of responsibility. The courts should decide whether or not that case can then be made.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.