Fund for Clergy Sex Abuse Victims: Will It Bring Healing or Protect the Catholic Church?
By Ivey DeJesus
Catholic bishops have long held that victims compensation programs offer a chance for victims to heal. That theory is about to be put to the test for potentially hundreds of victims of clergy sex abuse across the Diocese of Harrisburg. On Tuesday, officials from the diocese rolled out a program that will pay out millions of dollars in financial compensation to adults who were sexually abused as children by priests and church officials. The diocese has not announced the size of the fund or estimates of how much will be awarded to settle individual claims. Some victims welcome the idea of a compensation award, particularly in light of the fact that the legislative reforms that would allow victims to sue predatory priests in court have up to now failed in the General Assembly. The majority of victims linked to the findings of the grand jury report are timed out of the legal system because the statute of limitations have expired for them. Under state law, victims must pursue criminal cases by the age of 50 and civil cases by the age of 30. “Personal healing is so individualized,” said Jennifer Storm, the Pennsylvania Victims Advocate. “To assume money is going to lead to healing is a dangerous assumption. Certainly victims have outstanding counseling bills so financial assistance helps in making sure they can get good therapeutic services but to equate money to healing is dangerous.” Some victims worry that such a fund could further insulate and protect the church - politically and legally. “Anytime victims have an avenue to reconstitute their lives it should be regarded as positive,” said James Faluszczak, who grew up in Erie where he was molested by a priest from the local diocese. He testified in the 2018 grand jury investigation. “But these plans are only rolled out where there is a likelihood of legislative statute of limitations reform. These funds, even if they seem to be operated by an outside agency, still work within financial constraints that the diocese decides.” In announcing the terms of the funds, Harrisburg Bishop Ronald Gainer reiterated his apologies and “profound sorrow” for the pain and trauma inflicted on victims. “While we understand that financial compensation will not repair or erase the heartache and damage done by the abuse these survivors have suffered, we hope and pray this support can help to improve their lives," he said. “These settlements will serve as further recognition that the Church acknowledges these terrible abuses did occur and we hope that this program will help advance survivors on their path towards healing.” The diocese’s Survivor Compensation Program will be administered by Commonwealth Mediation & Conciliation, Inc. and will be effective immediately for three months. Private settlements to individual victims will be determined by the fund administrator. The diocese said it has set aside a “substantial” amount of money in the millions to fund the compensation program. Within 14 days of the close of the claims period, the fund administrators will notify all claimants as to their eligibility. Victims note that the compensation program ostensibly would preclude the Diocese of Harrisburg from having to hold additional discovery for the benefit of victims. “Will they open their files, particularly assignment histories, to victims,” Faluszczak asked. “Will the diocese now come clean? I believe not, since there is no sound record of the Diocese of Harrisburg policing itself.” The diocese was one of six Pennsylvania dioceses at the center of a grand jury report released in August 2018 that unearthed decades-long systemic and widespread sexual abuse of children at the hands of priests and church officials. Todd Frey, who was abused as a teenager by his priest and testified before the grand jury, remains ambivalent about the prospect of filing a claim for compensation with the diocese. Frey, who was 13 in 1982 when his priest began to sexually molest him, has staked his hope for redemption on a retroactive window to the statute of limitations that would permit him to file a civil suit. Indeed, the time parameters on the compensation fund concerned him. To participate in the program, a “claimant” must have previously identified themselves to the diocese on or before Feb. 11. The claims period will run for 90 days, from Feb. 12 through May 13. “They are rigid,” Frey said. “Why so rigid? Three months. My goodness. How does one even determine in three months what direction they want to move?” Mike Barley, a spokesman for the diocese, explained the rationale for the time frame. “Our goal is to get people resources quickly,” he said. “If we determine we need more time, we could move that deadline.” Members of the Fortney family, a Dauphin County family that includes five sisters who were all sexually abused by their priest when they were children, noted as a point of concern one of the criteria under the fund: that the person must have previously identified as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse to the diocese on or before Feb. 11. Victims and survivors who come forward after the deadline will be considered for future participation in the program. ”This stipulation, among many other concerns we have with the fund, prove further that the state of Pennsylvania needs to indeed change the laws as victims who have not identified to the diocese for many good reasons - shame, fear, trauma - now find themselves excluded," the Fortney sisters wrote in a statement to PennLive. The five sisters - Saundra Fortney-Colello, Lara Fortney-McKeever, Patty Fortney-Julius, Carolyn Fortney, and Jeanne Fortney-Webster - were sexually abused by Father Augustine Giella in the 1980s. Their stories of abuse are detailed in the grand jury report - and at times detail horrific accounts of abuse at the hands of Giella. Victims also expressed concern that filing a claim with the compensation fund would make them ineligible to file civil court cases should the Legislature enact a retroactive window in the statute of limitations. “I‘m 50 now,” Frey said. “If they open that window.... it’s something that has been on the back of my mind.” Victims who receive settlements from the compensation fund would be barred from filing legal action in the event the Legislature installed a retroactive window to the statute of limitations, Barley confirmed on Tuesday. Historically, payouts from compensation funds have generally been far less than court settlements. For example, some jury verdicts in other, similar sexual abuse cases have resulted in awards for victims in the tens of millions of dollars. Cash awards from compensation funds have paid considerably less. Marci Hamilton, a University of Pennsylvania law professor and CEO of CHILD USA, pointed out that few child sexual abuse cases go to a jury trial. “(99.9) percent of cases are settled through litigation or mediation,” she said. “Victims will have more leverage through a lawsuit than the fund but for many the rigors of the legal process with its delays and demands are too much. Each survivor should choose for themselves what is best for their happiness and mental health.” Rep. Mark Rozzi, the Berks County Democrat who has spearheaded the efforts to reform child sex crimes laws, both welcomed and criticized the compensation fund. Victims will get something out of it, but the church dodges accountability and transparency, he said. “In all honesty, the best case scenario would have been for the fund and the window to run simultaneously to give victims a true option of whether to go with the fund or go with the window,” said Rozzi, himself a victim of clergy sex abuse. “It would have really given victims a true path forward.” Rozzi said the diocese will have no obligation “to do anything” with the information culled from victims applying for the fund. “That is important to victims,” Rozzi said. “The whys and how the abuse happened. We want answers. We want to know why this happened to us. The fund will not allow that to happen.” Storm, the Commonwealth’s Victim Advocate, elaborated on that idea. “What survivors need is acknowledgement of the harm. Understanding of what happened to them and revealing of perpetrators,” Storm said. "That brings them closer to healing." The victims of clergy sex abuse were children when they were assaulted by priests - for some the repeatedly over the years. The compensation fund, Storm said, falls short of providing full closures and answers. “They don’t have the full picture of what happened, who knew, who covered up,” she said. “Those questions were answered for so many survivors during the grand jury.” Victims not mentioned in the grand jury will only be able to glean those answers through the courts. The Fortney sisters said they respected survivors who needed to access a quick fund "to quietly manage their needs." But they cautioned anyone participating in the fund to do so with counsel or a trusted independent advocate "to ensure trauma informed treatment and ethical financial resolution." They urged Gainer to permit the identification of newly named predators as part of the fund process.
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