BishopAccountability.org

Survivor groups question Oklahoma archdiocese's investigation

By Carla Hinton And Ben Felder
Oklahoman
September 1, 2019

https://oklahoman.com/article/5640131/survivor-groups-question-oklahoma-archdioceses-investigation

Nick Yascavage was recently named the first Oklahoma City coordinator for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Photo by Doug Hoke

[with audio]

Following a renewed focus on rampant sexual abuse by Catholic priests across the country, the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City announced last year it would investigate its own clergy, promising swift “transparency and accountability.”

But while numerous other dioceses across the nation called on law enforcement to lead similar investigations, the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City turned its investigation over to McAfee and Taft, an Oklahoma City-based law firm that has worked with the church for nearly 15 years.

In August 2018, when the diocese announced the investigation, it promised a report by November. The due date was postponed multiple times.

In June, the diocese announced it no longer had an expected release date.

Dozens of other dioceses have released their own reports over the past year, which include names of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse.

“The investigation should be run by law enforcement. Period,” said David Clohessy, former director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), an organization that advocates for victims through support groups and by advocating for stronger laws.

Not only does McAfee and Taft have a professional relationship with the diocese, but the firm is partly managed by the son of a high-ranking church official.

In January 2018 the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City hired Michael Scaperlanda as its chancellor, a few months after his son, Christopher Scaperlanda, was named partner at McAfee and Taft, an Oklahoma City-based law firm.

Seven months later the diocese hired that law firm to perform a review of the archdiocese's priest and parish files regarding sexual abuse allegations against priests dating back to 1960.

The diocese and law firm have denied any conflict of interest.

“Common sense tells you if they hired (a law firm) with a partner related to the second-highest ranking diocese official that just doesn’t pass the smell test," said Clohessy, who is currently SNAP’s Missouri director.

Nick Yascavage, who was recently named SNAP’s first Oklahoma City coordinator, said hiring a law firm to conduct the investigation lacked a necessary level of independence.

"McAfee & Taft represents the interests of the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. This relationship is the definition of conflict of interest," Yascavage said in a statement. "The public is relying on an organization that has harbored and enabled sexual predators to investigate crimes they themselves have purposely hidden for decades. It saddens me to see that the Oklahoma State Attorney General’s Office does not recognize the seriousness of these crimes which have been and are currently being committed against the innocent children of Oklahoma. It is important enough to warrant an official investigation.”

Attorneys general in several states have led priest investigations, including in St. Louis and New York.

The attorney general's office said it respected the process of the diocese and will review its findings once they are released to see whether further law enforcement action is necessary.

"The Office of Attorney General is a law enforcement agency and, as such, acts on referrals or complaints as we receive them," said Alex Gerszewski, communications director for Attorney General Mike Hunter. "Since Attorney General Hunter has been in office, we have received one allegation of sexual misconduct against a Catholic priest. We investigated it, as we do all criminal complaints our office receives, and found the claims to be unsubstantiated."

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City said it believed McAfee and Taft could conduct a independent investigation to compile a comprehensive report.

“The diocese regularly works with McAfee and Taft as well as other Oklahoma law firms to handle legal needs that include property transactions, contracts, litigation and employment law,” diocese spokeswoman Diane Clay said in a statement to The Oklahoman. “McAfee and Taft’s expertise in internal investigations was crucial to ensuring a complete and comprehensive review. The archdiocese requested that a non-Catholic with expertise in this area lead the review and that no family members of those who work at the chancery be involved with the review or be provided access to relevant files.”

Clay also said the diocese had no involvement in the hiring of Christopher Scaperlanda by McAfee and Taft.

"Michael Scaperlanda was hired by the archdiocese as its chancellor after the closing of Saint Gregory’s University where he was serving as president," Clay said.

McAfee and Taft told The Oklahoman Christopher Scaperlanda has no role in the investigation.

“The implication anything improper has occurred in our independent investigation is based on absolutely zero evidence,” McAfee & Taft Managing Director Michael Lauderdale said in a statement. “We do not believe there is any conflict of interest in our representation of the Archdiocese. The firm has put in place an ethical wall which ensures only the small team working on the investigation has access to documents provided by the Archdiocese or our work product.”

Multiple victims’ rights groups support law enforcement agencies taking over diocese investigations.

Terry McKiernan, president of Bishop Accountability, pointed to the thorough report released by Pennsylvania attorney general in 2018 as a good example of what a review by civil authorities can root out.

"It put real pressure on the church. What external pressures are there for church leaders in Oklahoma City?” McKiernan said.

McKiernan's Massachusetts-based nonprofit works to facilitate the accountability of the U.S. bishops under civil, criminal and canon law.

Like Clohessy with SNAP, McKiernan said all over the country, groups calling for more transparency and accountability for the Catholic church have found that civil authorities conducting such reviews provide the most information to the public.

McKiernan said the absence of any external challenges to information released by a diocese and any firm it hired to conduct its review, is less than ideal. He said among other things there is the question of information church leaders may withhold from the reports that come from such reviews.

"If it's not a truly external investigation like the one in Pennsylvania, done by the attorney general, then how are we to know? You don't know what you don't know," he said.

McKiernan said church leaders also must work harder to get the public to believe that their review and report is independent.

"After everything that's gone wrong, people don't really trust the Catholic Church. I think that's a higher standard and it may seem a little unfair to the diocese, but that's the mess that the Catholic Church has gotten itself into."

Clohessy said the fact that the law firm lacks subpoena power and is dependent on information provided by the diocese discredits the investigation.

“I frankly think it is misleading to even use the word investigation,” Clohessy said. “I can claim I have the cleanest house on the planet but if I only let you in my living room you would be well served to assume the worst about my basement and my attic.”




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