Wv AG Morrisey Says His Office Made 3 Criminal Referrals for Catholic Church Investigation
By Jake Jarvis
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said his office has made three criminal referrals to local prosecutors stemming from an investigation into the Roman Catholic Diocese of West Virginia. Morrisey, who identified himself as a practicing member of the Catholic church, addressed the lawsuit during a press conference at his office Thursday afternoon. He said he is deeply disappointed that the church diocese continues to conceal documents and is not cooperating with full disclosure. “Obviously they cooperated a little bit up front,” Morrisey said. “After we filed the original submission, they spent a lot of time talking about how old the allegations were. We thought about that a little bit. Some of them obviously go back in time, but it’s critical to note that the reason why they’re coming to light now is because of our office.” Morrisey’s office first filed a lawsuit against the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese and Bishop Michael Bransfield earlier this year, alleging they violated the state’s consumer protection laws by not alerting parents the accused priests were staffing its schools and camps. That lawsuit was amended Tuesday to include new charges that the church allegedly concealed the fact that a teacher in Kanawha County sexually abused a child in 2006. The new charges also allege that Bransfield personally knew that more than 20 background checks were not completed on employees at a Catholic elementary school in Charleston around the same time. The diocese denied “in the strongest terms” that initial background checks were not completed, as alleged in the lawsuit. A statement from the diocese said the lawsuit contained factual inaccuracies, and it claims that the legal action is outside the jurisdiction of the Attorney General’s office. Morrisey said his office filed subpoenas last fall, and as a direct result of those subpoenas, the diocese released a month later a list of 31 priests who were credibly accused of sexual abuse. “We know that they reacted to our subpoena. We also know that, from the first filing of this, we’ve had a lot of people in the public step up and provide additional information. We’re very fortunate. We have a new allegation of abuse — a teacher and a student. We have an instance where Bishop Bransfield knew of at least 22 people who didn’t have background checks performed.” The diocese said in the statement that it has a “zero tolerance policy for any cleric, employee or volunteer credibly accused of abuse and it is the policy of the Diocese to report any accusation of this nature immediately to civil authorities.” Morrisey spoke on the lawsuit during a press conference to announce the regional finalists for his “Kids Kick Opioids” design contest. The contest, in its third year, encourages students to create works of art to raise awareness about prescription painkiller abuse. This year, the contest received 3,240 entries from 96 middle and elementary schools across the state. The submissions included a mix of drawings and poems, according to a news release. “The entries underscore the impact of the opioid epidemic on our youngest students,” Morrisey said. “They are growing up in a time when drug abuse runs rampant. Our hope is their artwork will bring greater awareness and a renewed commitment to change.” The final winners will be announced soon.
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