Clergy Sex Abuse Victims Claim Church Is Breaking Promises for Care, Treatment

WCVB
February 5, 2016

http://www.wcvb.com/news/clergy-sex-abuse-victims-claim-church-is-breaking-promises-for-care-treatment/37849168

[with video]

It was one of the promises from the landmark settlement of church sex abuse cases from the Archdiocese of Boston: the church would pay for counseling to try to fix the lives their abusive priests had damaged.

Watch the report

But now, victims and their advocates tell 5 Investigates the Archdiocese has in some cases begun backsliding on that promise, putting up more resistance than ever before to paying for treatments.

"What other kind of rape victim or victim of sexual assault has to go to their perpetrator to try and get services?" said attorney Tyler Fox. "That's getting re-victimized again."

Fox represents a man known in church documents as John Doe 24.

Together they say the church is acting like an insurance company when it comes to John Doe 24's therapy, even though the settlement agreement with the church promised "continued therapy and healing."

"I was raped as a child" by Father Ronald Paquin, John Doe 24 told 5 Investigates' Mike Beaudet, referring to years of abuse by the priest.

The Archdiocese's Office of Pastoral Support started paying for John Doe 24's counseling in the early 2000s, and he said it went well for the first few years.

"It's a process to peel off that Band-Aid and realize you've been manipulated," he said.

But when his therapist recommended twice-weekly counseling, he said the church told him it would only pay for once a week.

"They were non-responsive, they were condescending, belittling," he said.

And when he wanted more intensive therapy for his PTSD, he said the Archdiocese told him it would cut him off after two rounds of treatment.

"He has to go through this process each time of pleading with them or fighting with them or begging them," Fox said.

Fox points to then-Attorney General Tom Reilly's 2003 report that criticized the Archdiocese, accusing it of having a conflict of interest for controlling assistance to victims. The report recommended an "independent victims assistance board," which the church didn't follow through on.

In a statement, the Archdiocese of Boston told 5 Investigates that it "remains committed to providing these services to survivors and their families for as long as needed" and said it spent more than $34 million in the last 12 years helping more than 1,000 survivors of clergy sex abuse.

The statement went on to say the "baseline is weekly treatment with a therapist and medication management," and the church said it "declined less than 2 percent of all requests for treatment authorization" because they were "not medically supported or were requested in addition to an already intensive level of treatment."

It's a problem others are seeing too, according to David O'Regan, New England director for SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. He is also a victim.

"And as I'm driving to work, tears would come down my, roll down my cheeks and I could see my abuser raping me," he said.

O'Regan said the movie "Spotlight" is bringing out more victims who will need counseling for years, and that the Archdiocese makes some survivors jump through hoops to justify their treatment.

"We want the public to understand that when they say they're doing everything they can for survivors, they are not," O'Regan said.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian has negotiated hundreds of settlements between clergy sex abuse victims and the Archdiocese. He said he's seen a spike in the number of victims calling him over the past two years saying the church will not pay for counseling.

"A lot of these victims are suicidal, they've been in intense pain since age 10, 11, 12 years old now they're 50, 60 years old and they're finally coming to terms with it yet the church is just slamming the door on their fingers."

"Why do you think this happening?" Beaudet asked him.

"I think the church is more concerned about its own wallet than the emotional well-being of the victims," Garabedian replied.

The Archdiocese of Boston declined 5 Investigates' request for an on-camera interview.

A statement was provided and a spokesperson requested that it be published in its entirety:

"Since 2002, the Archdiocese of Boston has been committed to a comprehensive support program for survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their families. Our principles and procedures have always been, and continue to remain, focused on a therapist driven process. We recognize that a survivor's trust in the Church has been broken. We take care when crafting our pastoral response programs and services with that in mind. We remain committed to providing these services to survivors and their families for as long as needed, without time limitation. In fact, in 2015 we declined less than 2 percent of all requests for treatment authorization, which includes adjunct authorizations. The requests were declined when they were not medically supported or were requested in addition to an already intensive level of treatment. We know of no other organization which offers this level of pastoral support.

"Over the last 12 years, the Archdiocese has provided over $34.6 million dollars to fund counseling, medications, and other services for survivors and family members. At any given time, approximately 300 survivors are receiving financial support for therapy or related services. We have helped more than 1,000 survivors of clergy abuse. We will continue to do so.

"To this point in time, since its inception in 2002, the Office of Pastoral Support and Outreach (OPSO) has not made any fundamental changes to the process for how we facilitate therapeutic and pastoral services. At the request and suggestion of survivors and therapists, we have streamlined the process to make it more convenient for survivors and care providers. Every six months a survivor and their therapist verify a reauthorization for services based upon the therapist's affirmation that services are still needed. We allow survivors to choose their own licensed mental health therapist, psychiatrist or psychologist. For survivors abused in Boston, by one of our Archdiocesan clerics, but now living elsewhere we pay for therapy and medications again with the guidance of their therapist. In cases where survivors were abused elsewhere by a person outside of our organization, we communicate with that local diocese.

"Support services are available to both those abused by clergy in the Archdiocese of Boston and their family members who were also impacted. While the baseline is weekly treatment with a therapist and medication management as needed, more intensive levels of treatment can be arranged when prescribed as medically necessary by the treating clinician. This may include anything from more frequent sessions with a therapist to inpatient treatment. We continue to look at the list of adjunct behavioral health therapies that are proving to be beneficial for individuals with a history of trauma and add them to the list of things that we can pay for when appropriate. Some treatments that would not have been covered previously, are now because of their documented benefit.

"Additionally, each year the Archdiocese posts on its website the annual financial report for the previous fiscal year at www.bostoncatholic.org. OPSO services are provided separate and regardless of any financial settlements with survivors.

"The Archdiocese recognizes the pain and suffering survivors have experienced and continue to face in their healing journey. Their needs and those of their families have been our priority since the beginning of the crisis. Trust is an essential element in caring for their needs that is not only demonstrated in our words but in our actions. The Church continues to seek forgiveness for the sins of those who violated that trust and pledge our firm commitment to the protection of children and the wellbeing of survivors and their families."