Clergy Abuse Victim-turned-lawmaker Calls for Reforms in and out of Catholic Church

By Wallace McKelvey
Penn Live
August 1, 2018

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2018/08/harrisburg_clergy_sex_abuse_ma.html

The Diocese of Harrisburg's decision to release a list of 71 priests accused of child sex crimes, which may be a partial accounting, was a good start but further reforms are needed within the Catholic Church and the state at large, state Rep. Mark Rozzi said Wednesday.

"One thing I know about predators is they don't stop abusing children--they look for their next victim," said Rozzi, a Berks County Democrat who was raped by a Catholic priest at 13 years old. "Those predator priests are still out there and they could still be abusing your child."

Rozzi has fought to reform the state's child sex crimes statutes. He's introduced legislation that would expand the statute of limitations in order to give past and future victims greater legal recourse against predators.

"We want the parents of our community to know that, for full transparency, the church needs to release the full list of names," he said, during an interview in the Capitol Rotunda.

Of the 71 names released on Wednesday, 37 were priests of the Diocese of Harrisburg, three were deacons of the diocese, six were seminarians, nine were priests from other dioceses, and 16 were from religious communities. None of the individuals on the list are currently in ministry or in service in the diocese.

The release came days after a state Supreme Court decision cleared the way for the release of a grand jury report that the Catholic Church has fought to suppress. A redacted version of the 900-page report is expected to come in mid-August after a final review by a judge.

Matt Haverstick, a lawyer who represents the diocese, said its list will be different from those included in that report. He declined to comment on the specifics of those differences but said the diocese considered its accounting to be "fairly complete" despite shortcomings in how allegations were investigated in the past.

In his letter explaining how the list was assembled, Bishop Ronald Gainer noted that the records of such allegations were inadequate to determine guilt or innocence.

"Not every man accused of abuse was included," Gainer wrote. "In some cases, despite the diocese receiving an allegation of abuse, additional evidence existed . . . showing the allegation was unsubstantiated."

The church spent millions of dollars lobbying against proposals backed by Rozzi and others to open up Pennsylvania's statutes of limitation on civil and criminal proceedings against accused child predators. Such a move could lead to many millions more in legal fees and jury awards against priests and the church.

Currently, child victims cannot seek civil damages once they've turned 30 years old. Law enforcement cannot pursue criminal charges if the victim claiming child sexual abuse has turned 50. Such cases are already difficult to prove and many abuse victims don't come forward until later in life, after the statute of limitations has taken effect.

"What the Catholic Conference is doing is not just blocking justice for Catholic victims but blocking justice for all victims across the state," Rozzi said. "They are the ones spending millions of dollars of parishioners' money and they continue to do that to block justice."

'Bigger than Boston': What the Pa. clergy sex abuse report could mean

Rozzi said the priest who abused him was removed in the late 1980s to one of the church's sexual abuse rehab centers. The priest returned to service in a different diocese, where he continued to abuse others.

That priest died in 2002.

"To me, it's frustrating," he said. "I would have loved to ask the priest, 'Why me? Why did you pick me that day?'"

Victims should have the right to confront their abusers, Rozzi said, or at least have a path to justice.

"Even though our predator priests may be dead, we are still going through the steps to get justice," he said. "For most of us, it's getting to that civil court of law."

Reverand John T. Sweeney, of Greensburg, on Tuesday became the first priest convicted as a result of the grand jury investigation. Sweeney pleaded guilty to involuntary sexual intercourse, a first-degree felony, for a sexual assault committed against a 10-year-old boy. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Rozzi was disturbed by statements during the diocese's press conference Wednesday encouraging those who've been abused bring their allegations to the church.

"I understand where they're coming from but, no, you call the police if you're sexually abused," he said.

But Rozzi said the Harrisburg diocese's announcement, which also calls for the stripping of the names of all former bishops who failed to protect children from diocese buildings, is one step.

"It lets the community and public know, hey, these were abusive priests," he said. "Maybe you're a victim out there and you see your predator priest on the list. That may give you the ability to come forward."