DA joins push to release priest abuse report at 6 Pa. dioceses, including Allentown

By Pamela Sroka-Holzmann
Express-Times and Lehigh Valley Live
July 09, 2018

https://bit.ly/2L8IHta

Northampton County's District Attorney is calling on all state district attorneys to support the release of a grand jury report discussing the handling of sexual abuse claims involving six Roman Catholic dioceses, including Allentown.

Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli held a news conference Monday afternoon, saying he wants the state's District Attorneys Association to file an "amicus curiae" brief supporting state Attorney General Josh Shapiro and making it clear the state's district attorneys supports the release of the 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury report.

Like-minded organizations should also file briefs, Morganelli said.

"Pennsylvania's grand jury practice is under assault," he said. "Pennsylvania's entire grand jury system could be undermined if a group of people are successful in blocking publication of the grand jury report by the 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury into alleged sexual abuse in Catholic dioceses across Pennsylvania."

The two-year grand jury investigation looked into six of the eight dioceses covering the state: Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton. The Diocese of Allentown administers to Catholics in a region that includes the Lehigh Valley.

Pennsylvania's highest court on June 20 held up the release of a report days before it was expected to be made public. The two-paragraph order did not explain the reasons but said nothing in the court file except the new order is available for public inspection. The report is expected to reveal details of widespread abuse and efforts to conceal and protect abusive priests.

Shapiro last month expressed his objection in keeping the report sealed, stating, "The people of Pennsylvania have a right to see the report, know who is attempting to block its release and why, and to hear the voices of the victims of sexual abuse within the Church." His office earlier this month took a legal action, seeking to lift the high court's stay, according to the Associated Press.

Morganelli, who said he has not been in contact with anyone involved in the investigation or the Diocese of Allentown, expects nearly two dozen current and retired members of the clergy are among those seeking to block the report.

Bishop Alfred Schlert previously said the Allentown Diocese cooperated with the attorney general's office and the grand jury investigation and has not attempted to block or delay release of the report.

A week after the court sealed the report, a lawsuit was filed accusing the former pastor of a Roman Catholic parish in Bath of disrobing and masturbating during video chats with a 16-year-old boy.

Utilizing grand jury threatened

A major concern among state prosecutors is the ability to utilize the grand jury in the future as a result of the brief being halted, Morganelli said.

"The district attorneys of Pennsylvania should be on record supporting the state's long established history of grand jury reports and the statutory authority and process for the same," he said.

Morganelli said this past Friday the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued 14 individual orders outlining several legal issues involving the grand jury.

Among them is whether the process established in the grand jury statute for those "criticized," but not charged in a grand jury report is "constitutionally insufficient;" whether individuals "criticized," but not charged in a grand jury report are entitled to a hearing; and whether a supervising judge of a grand jury has the authority to redact a grand jury report.

Other issues included whether a grand jury violates federal and state constitutional rights to due process and the right reputation in that it doesn't afford uncharged individuals the right to see and challenge evidence presented against them; and whether individuals are permitted to present their own witnesses and testimony, as well as cross-examine witnesses before a grand jury.

Morganelli, the state's most senior district attorney and past president of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, recently successfully opposed efforts by state police to suppress a critical grand jury report in a police shooting case in Northampton County.   

'Vital role'

In Pennsylvania, Morganelli said there is a long history of grand jury reports involving non-criminal matters that are in the public's interest.

Grand jury reports have played a vital role in highlighting important issues into such topics as the Turnpike Commission, the Philadelphia Department of Human Services, the "abortion mill" of Philadelphia physician Kermit Gosnell, and an incinerator project devastating Harriburg's municipal finances, he said in stating examples.

Another, the 37th State Wide Investigating Grand Jury issued a comprehensive report about non-criminal issues within the Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnston, the Johnston Police Department, and the Bishop McCort Catholic High School about a failure to report child abuse matters.

That 147-page report contained conclusions and recommendations, such as abolishing the statute of limitations for sexual offenses against minors, expanding the ability for child sexual abuse victims to pursue civil actions, and reporting such matters to law enforcement, Morganellis said.

A 2003 investigating grand jury also issued a scathing report delineating how victims of child sexual abuse were further abused by the system and the hierarchy structure of the Philadelphia Catholic Arch Diocese. That report called for reforms and recommendations in the public's interest.

"All the aforesaid investigations had the same thing in common -- they were conducted pursuant to the statutory authority of the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Act and the reports properly involved in the oversight of public agencies and officials which offered conclusions and recommendations in the public's interest," Morganelli said.

"The petitioners' demands in these cases would essentially eradicate the grand jury report as an instrument of accountability for public and private institutions. There are apparently those who would welcome such a result, but not the public at large," he added.