BishopAccountability.org

Victims of abusive priests won’t likely see justice, experts say

By Danae King And Marty Schladen
Columbus Dispatch
March 09, 2019

https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190309/victims-of-abusive-priests-wont-likely-see-justice-experts-say

The offices of the The Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus on E. Broad St.

Sixteen years after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus formed a review board to advise the bishop on allegations against priests of child sexual abuse, it released a list of priests that it has deemed “credibly accused.”

But the options for victims of these priests to seek justice are limited.

Systems such as those within the Diocese of Columbus — in place to exact justice for victims of childhood priest sexual abuse — and in the broader legal system often are stacked against adult survivors, advocates say.

Within the church, their accusations are judged by colleagues or superiors of the priest the victims are accusing; a victim’s advocate who is also high-ranking clergy; and a board made up almost entirely of parishioners.

Outside the church, the Ohio legislature has so far rejected changes in laws that limit damages awarded to victims in civil cases, and prevent civil cases and criminal charges because of a statute of limitations.

“The church is the richest institution in the world, and with that money they buy influence and power,” said Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who has made a career out of representing victims of clergy sexual abuse and was made famous by the 2015 movie “Spotlight.”

The Columbus diocese list, released March 1, named 34 clergy members and said the most recent credible claim of abuse happened in 1992. Though it took six months longer for it to release the list than it did the five other Ohio dioceses, Columbus added two more names March 5, making the total 36. Twenty-two of them are dead and the rest have been removed from ministry, according to the diocese.

The release of the list has brought added attention to the Columbus diocese, which did not see major repercussions after the 2002 Boston Globe investigation that forced other dioceses and archdioceses nationwide to open their files, face courts and offer justice to victims.

Lebanon attorney Konrad Kircher fought a case concerning victims of clergy abuse in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in which a judge ordered the church to provide all of its relevant files on sexual abuse. It has had a list of clergy accused of abuse on its website for more than 15 years.

On Feb. 8, Kircher filed a motion in Franklin County Common Pleas Court to compel the Columbus diocese to release all diocesan documents on child sexual abuse. The motion was filed in connection with a civil suit that Kircher filed against the diocese on behalf of a man who said he is a survivor of sexual abuse by the late Monsignor Thomas Bennett while a student at St. Charles Preparatory School in Bexley.

Whether it’s through a case such as Kircher’s or not, Garabedian and Mathew Schmalz, professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, believe the Diocese of Columbus will end up being held responsible for abusers in its ranks, as has been happening worldwide over the past 20 years.

Schmalz said the diocese should get out in front of the reckoning that it likely will face, as the lists are usually just a small part of the information that dioceses have.

“The church is now being forced to confront the truth of their own immorality,” said Garabedian.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, with the authority to investigate the diocese due to home rule in Ohio, said he prosecuted a case in the late 1990s, but none of the cases on the list involving living clergy members happened within the state’s statute of limitations.

“I would tell you that since 2002, if there has been an issue — either that I have called them about because I read something in the newspaper, and I’m thinking about some instances in high schools where I heard things — they were very forthcoming and sent the information,” O’Brien said of the diocese.

Survivors face many hurdles inside the church system, as “history has taught us that the Catholic church cannot self-police,” Garabedian said.

Ken Wilcox, 55, said he also is a survivor of priest sex abuse as a teen at the hands of Monsignor Bennett, who is listed as a footnote on the diocese’s list as it hasn’t determined whether his allegations are credible and there is pending litigation. He said he has little recourse — legal or otherwise — as do countless other victims of the men on the list.

Wilcox said he hasn’t gone to authorities because he’s too old to pursue a civil or criminal case due to the statutes of limitations in the state, both of which expire well before a victim is 50 years old.

He said he didn’t report it to the diocese because he doesn’t trust the leadership to fairly handle his case.

In Columbus, allegations of child sexual abuse are referred to Monsignor Stephan Moloney, vicar general and victim assistance coordinator since 2003, diocesan spokesman George Jones said in an email. Moloney interviews the accuser before reporting the allegations to authorities, Jones said.

If allegations are made against a living clergyman, that person is put on leave and an investigation is begun. Part of that investigation is input from a volunteer review board, whose creation was prompted by the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team investigation, and whose members are appointed by Columbus Bishop Frederick Campbell, who makes the final decision on whether an allegation is credible.

The 11 review board members include Moloney, another priest, at least one person with experience in treatment of sexual abuse of minors and one member who isn’t Catholic, Jones said.

Jed Morison, acting chairman and the only non-Catholic on the board, said that, though all of the other members are Catholic, he believes they have been objective in their review of the information presented to them by diocesan officials.

“All the people who serve seem like very good people, very solid,” said Morison, head of the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities. “I felt they looked at this very objectively and have done a good job.”

But Garabedian said review boards are “biased, dependent” and made up of individuals who are “strong supporters of the Catholic Church.”

“They are not objective.”

Beyond the church, the legal system in Ohio often presents its own challenges for victims such as Wilcox. Ohio’s civil statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse expires at age 30, and the criminal one extends 20 years after the abuse takes place.

Thirty-seven states have no criminal statute of limitations for child sexual abuse, and nine also have no civil statute of limitations, according to the National Children’s Alliance, a national accrediting body for children’s advocacy centers.

Ohio falls in the middle of the pack in terms of years in its statutes, said Teresa Huizar, executive director of the alliance.

To critics of limitless statutes, Huizar pointed out that murder cases have no statute of limitations, and there are many cold cases that go through successful trials.

Though efforts to change Ohio’s laws regarding child sexual abuse including a 2016 court case to remove the damages cap that went to the state Supreme Court and bills introduced to change the statutes have largely failed, Garabedian said there is potential for change.

“There is great momentum in creating new statutes of limitations, in publicizing the names of pedophile priests, and that momentum is empowering victims and advocacy groups to continue the work,” Garabedian said.

Some of that momentum has been picked up on by Ohio Rep. Kristin Boggs, D-Columbus, who said she plans to reintroduce a bill that died last year that would have eliminated caps on damages in cases against negligent employers of people who commit rape and related crimes.

Boggs said it’s important to take away the incentives for employers to knowingly hire or keep sexual predators. But she faces a problem in a Republican-controlled legislature that lacks her former co-sponsor, former Rep. Anne Gonzales, R-Westerville.

“We’re searching for a Republican joint sponsor,” Boggs said last week. “We really think this should be a bipartisan bill.”

The average age at which an adult tells about his or her abuse as a child is 47, said Huizar of the National Children’s Alliance.

“If you cut that off at 30, you really are going to miss many, many individuals who have no chance at justice,” she said.

Contact: dking@dispatch.com




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