Window for Priest Sex-abuse Lawsuits Could Rock Staten Island This Summer
By Maura Grunlund
Victims with ties to Staten Island are among those preparing to file lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Church alleging priestly sex abuse when a special one-year window of opportunity opens in August in New York State, the Advance has learned. Events and other outreach intended to bring attention to the victims already are being done in anticipation of what some experts believe is going to be a controversial summer of filings starting in mid-August. Law firms have been advertising for clients for lawsuits against schools, youth organizations and a variety of religious organizations under the act. The lawsuits are prompted by the Child Victims Act signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Feb. 14. More than 110 Roman Catholic priests and other religious figures in the Archdiocese of New York were accused of “sexual misconduct” in a list posted on the website of Jeff Anderson and Associates law firm, which represents victims. The roster includes the names of about 30 current or former members of the clergy with ties to Staten Island. Jeff Anderson and Associates has clients who claim they were abused in every diocese in New York State in cases dating back to at least the early 1940s, said attorney J. Michael Reck. He believes that abuse occurred earlier in the last century, but that older victims died or aren’t pursuing litigation due to their advanced ages. Anderson and Associates is championing the causes of multiple survivors who claim they were abused on Staten Island. More than 100 of the law firm’s clients are expected to file statewide under the act, Reck said. Michelle Tuegel said her law firm, Seeger Weiss, is representing more than 70 victims in the state who will be bringing lawsuits under the act. Her firm is championing the causes of over 300 adults nationwide who maintain that they were abused as children by priests and others affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Tuegel said that her firm represents a number of current and former Staten Islanders who maintain they are victims of sex abuse both in our borough and elsewhere in the state. In one recent case, one of her clients held a press conference in the Bronx calling for the removal of a prominent priest with Staten Island ties over abuse allegations. The Advance has chosen to not publish the names of religious figures whose alleged abuse is considered unsubstantiated by the Archdiocese of New York without the formal filing of a lawsuit or action by law-enforcement officials. STAGGERING COSTS The costs of resolving these lawsuits is potentially staggering, but some experts believe that the Archdiocese of New York already has proactively protected itself from financial ruin by implementing assistance and compensation programs for victims and protection plans for children. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, perhaps learned from his experiences as head of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee from 2002 to 2009. The southeastern Wisconsin archdiocese later declared bankruptcy in 2011 due to abuse litigation. Reck is among those who don’t think that the Archdiocese of New York will be bankrupted by the lawsuits. The archdiocese, Reck said, “has done a very good job of risk management” and already has settled hundreds of claims that likely would have been eligible under the act. In 2016, Dolan instituted the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program that awarded nearly $60 million to 278 victims during its first two years of operation, according to a Catholic New York Article in August 2018. However, plenty of other survivors will file, such as people who were abused by religious in various non-archdiocesan orders and others who didn’t participate in or rejected settlements from the archdiocesan programs. “If the archdiocese files bankruptcy, it will be for strategic reasons as opposed to financial reasons,” Reck said, noting that abuse litigation would be frozen during bankruptcy proceedings. Among outspoken Staten Islanders is Anthony J. Raiola, who alleges that he was a victim of clergy abuse. He and Tuegel authored a commentary that was posted on SILive. “For decades, the Catholic Church has turned a blind eye to the child predators in its ranks and refused to be held accountable for the thousands of lives it ruined,” the Raiola/Tuegel opinion piece said. HOW THE CHILD VICTIMS ACT WORKS The Child Victims Act will allow victims under age 55 to sue their abusers. Previously, survivors only had until age 23 to file a lawsuit in these cases. An additional provision that starts in mid-August is a one-time, one-year window to file lawsuits against alleged abusers, no matter how old the victim currently is or how long ago the attack happened. The criminal statute was extended by five years from age 23 to age 28, according to the Law Journal. However, there has also been some concern among legal experts about the Child Victims Act inducing false claims. The Archdiocese of New York has repeatedly encouraged all victims to report their abuse. “The Archdiocese of New York takes seriously all allegations of the sexual abuse of a minor,” said a recent statement from Joseph Zwilling, director of communications for the Archdiocese of New York. “Our policy and procedures for responding to allegations of abuse include treating anyone alleging abuse with compassion and respect, reporting allegations to and working cooperatively with the district attorney, having the allegation investigated by outside professionals, and turning the entire matter over to our lay review board so that they might carefully examine all the information gathered to determine whether or not the allegation has been substantiated.” In response to an inquiry from the Advance, Zwilling said that the accusation against the priest that prompted the Bronx press conference had not been reported to the archdiocese, even though an alleged victim told his story to the media. “The archdiocese cannot take action, including the possible removal of a pastor, based merely on newspaper stories or press conferences,” Zwilling said. KNOWN STATEN ISLAND CASES The Anderson law firm list identifies monsignors, principals, pastors and parochial vicars who served on Staten Island. Many of the cases on the list which have been deemed substantiated were previously reported by the Advance. Near the top of the list is Monsignor Francis Boyle, the former longtime pastor at Blessed Sacrament R.C. Church in West Brighton. The Archdiocese previously announced that Monsignor Boyle “will never serve as a priest again” after a church panel substantiated sex-abuse allegations against him. “Credible” child sex-abuse allegations were levied against another man on the roster, Monsignor Charles Coen, who was a pastor and Irish musician on Staten Island, according to a previous announcement by the Archdiocese. The Rev. Jack Ryan is seen in this photo taken while he served on Staten Island.
The Rev. Jack T. Ryan is one of four current and former Staten Island members of the Society of Jesus named in the list published by the Catholic order’s Northeast Province and also on the Anderson law firm list. Father Ryan served as director of the Mount Manresa Jesuit Retreat House from 1994 to 2002, and then worked with Project Hospitality. He moved to Florida in 2015, according to public records. The Anderson law firm list did not provide specific information about the nature of the allegations, when and where they were made, and whether the Archdiocese deemed them substantiated or unsubstantiated. It posts what amounts to a disclaimer on its website. In doing so, the law firm seems to nod to readers who might be troubled by the lack of proof, specific information about alleged crimes and due process. “While lawsuits were filed involving many of these alleged perpetrators, the vast majority of the claims against these individuals have been settled or have not been fully evaluated in a civil or criminal court,” the law firm said. “Accordingly, the allegations should be considered just allegations and should not be considered proven or substantiated in a court of law. All individuals should be considered innocent until proven guilty.” The law firm offers only general information about how and why each name was chosen for the manifest. “This list is an attempt to compile information already available from various public sources including the public media,bishopaccountability.org, court filings, press statements, claims filed through the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program in the Archdiocese, lists disclosed by dioceses and religious orders regarding allegations of sexual abuse of minors, and other sources that have attempted to chronicle this information for public use,” the law firm said on its website.
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.