Hundreds of child sex abuse claims lead Catholic dioceses to ramp up internal probes

By Cayla Harris
Times Union
September 30, 2019

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Hundreds-of-child-sex-abuse-claims-lead-Catholic-14480701.php

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, speaks to reporters during a news conference in New York, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016. Dolan helped to announce a new program intended to provide reconciliation and compensation for victims of sexual abuse by clergy. Photo by Seth Wenig

Bishop Edward Scharfenberger speaks to the press during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Mary Immaculate, Patroness of America Mausoleum at the at the Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery on Thursday, June 18, 2015 in Niskayuna, N.Y. Photo by Lori Van Buren

Bishop Edward Scharfenberger speaks to the media following a meeting with former St. Clare's Hospital workers over pension funding issues on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018, at Siena College in Colonie, N.Y. Photo by Will Waldron

People pass the Archdiocese of New York, in New York, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood subpoenaed all eight Roman Catholic dioceses in the state Thursday as part of a broadening civil investigation into the handling of sex abuse allegations by church leaders. Photo by Richard Drew

Attorney Jeff Anderson, left, points to a list of perpetrators in the Diocese of Albany as he announces 20 lawsuits filed against the Albany Diocese on the first day the Child Victims Act at the Hilton Albany on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2019 in Albany, N.Y. Survivors Bridie Farrell and Mark Lyman stand at right. The act allows a one-year period for claims to be filed regardless of the age of the plaintiff. Photo by Lori Van Buren

But lawyers say priests' personnel files should be a matter of public record

About a month before the Child Victims Act went into effect, the Albany Diocese created a new position – a "process manager" – to oversee the handling of child abuse complaints.

Shortly after the opening of the act's one-year look-back window – which temporarily allows survivors of all ages to sue their alleged abusers – the diocese also hired a second investigative firm to help internally probe accusations of misconduct. Now, the diocese is exploring digital record-keeping alternatives to dated stacks of paper files.

It's just a sampling of the steps local dioceses across the state have taken to examine allegations, many of them new, of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church.

On Monday, the New York Archdiocese released the recommendations from a yearlong independent review of its procedures, which urged the church to become more technology-forward and hire someone whose sole duties would be overseeing responses to sexual abuse claims.

"The report from the Archdiocese of New York is an affirmation of Bishop [Edward] Scharfenberger's decision some months ago to create this process manager position in an effort to expedite and streamline the process for receiving and investigating complaints," said Mary DeTurris Poust, a spokeswoman for the Albany Diocese.

While there were no issues with the previous processing of complaints, she said, the new officer "helps everything move more quickly." The diocese has also been working with the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Brooklyn to explore their online filing system, she added.

Still, attorneys who represent alleged victims say they have little confidence in the internal investigations of an organization bruised by years of assertions that it knew about and tolerated priests and other employees who have been accused of abusing children.

"I don't trust anything the diocese does to self-police itself when it comes to the allegations of priests molesting kids," said Jeff Herman, a Manhattan attorney who has filed dozens of cases under the Child Victims Act.

He added that the internal inquiries include reviews of priests' personnel files, and both the New York and Albany dioceses have said that none of their employees have been the target of substantiated sex abuse claims. But Herman said the Child Victims Act has publicly identified "dozens" of alleged abusers for the first time, and those personnel files are still under lock and key.

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against the Catholic Church since the opening of the Child Victims Act's look-back window in August, compelling the Rochester Diocese to file for bankruptcy earlier this month. Other dioceses are expected to follow suit.

During a diocese's internal investigation of a sex abuse claim, it is at the church's discretion whether to retain, transfer or let go of priests who have been accused. While the dioceses say they no longer employ any individuals who have been the subject of confirmed complaints, personnel files would disclose how the church's leaders dealt with those matters.

"We do our own investigations before we file," Herman said. "Certainly, it would be helpful if the church would have produced the files of priests they've known who have been accused already."

Over the summer, the Manhattan-based Marsh Law Firm also sent a letter to state Attorney General Letitia James, asking her to release the "secret files" to the public that her office has been gathering for nearly a year. James' office is in the process of obtaining personnel documents, which former Attorney General Barbara Underwood subpoenaed from all eight of the state's dioceses after the release of a Pennsylvania report on church sex abuse last year.

Poust, the spokeswoman for the Albany Diocese, said the process of scanning and reviewing all personnel files to comply with the subpoena "has provided an objective assessment of files and clergy status."

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed across the state since the Child Victims Act's look-back window opened, but at least dozens more are expected. At the New York Archdiocese's headquarters in Manhattan on Monday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan cast the church's new initiatives as a breakthrough.

"I'd like to express my sincere gratitude ... to you, God's people of this Archdiocese, for your willingness to allow me to work to regain your trust," he said. "It is my hope and prayer that the release of these findings and recommendations will be a big step forward in that process."