Anniversary of Credibly Accused Clergy List in New Orleans Brings Lawsuits, Calls for Investigations
By Ramon Antonio Vargas
When the Archdiocese of New Orleans published a list one year ago of priests and deacons who had been credibly accused of molesting children, it started a one-year clock for lawsuits by people claiming that seeing the list had rekindled memories of their abuse at the hands of Catholic clergymen. The looming arrival of that deadline on Monday of this week prompted the filing of several clergy-abuse lawsuits in recent days at Orleans Parish Civil District Court, where the list of such cases has been steadily growing since the church’s decades-old molestation crisis reignited more than a year ago. Meanwhile, advocates with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests marked the grim anniversary by renewing calls for authorities to investigate and prosecute still-living priests who may have committed crimes — as well as high church officials who passed up earlier opportunities to identify them. The group also asked Louisiana legislators to change laws that limit how long survivors have to seek compensation in the courts and how much time authorities have to criminally charge abusers, as other states have done. “Such reforms would keep children and communities safer, and institutions that have hidden or recycled known perpetrators would have a strong incentive to change their behavior,” according to a statement from national SNAP President Tim Lennon, state leader Richard Windmann and local leader Kevin Bourgeois, all of whom have spoken publicly about their experiences with abusive clergy. An archdiocesan spokeswoman issued a statement Tuesday saying that church leaders’ goal was to “walk with victims toward healing” and maintain a program of safeguards meant to prevent new cases of abuse. “We will continue to address the civil cases against us to the best of our ability with a priority of not re-victimizing or causing further harm to those who choose to come forward,” the statement said. The spokeswoman left open the possibility of adding to the list “as necessary” and pledged to cooperate with any criminal investigations that may be opened. Months before New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond released the list of credibly accused local clergy on Nov. 2, 2018, a Pennsylvania grand jury published a report exposing hundreds of previously undisclosed abuse cases in that state. That report reignited an international scandal that first flared in the 1980s and then boiled over in Boston in 2002. Calls for transparency led to the release of numerous lists like the one issued by Aymond, who was later joined by other bishops across Louisiana. Only one clergyman named in Aymond’s disclosure has since been arrested: George Brignac, a deacon who has been repeatedly accused of child sex abuse but has never been convicted. Many more local clergymen, including some not on Aymond’s list, have been targeted in complaints filed through a private mediation process. Details of only a fraction of those have become available, as some claimants have chosen to speak out in defiance of confidentiality clauses. A smaller number of clergymen have been named as abusers in roughly two dozen lawsuits. Most of those disputes are unresolved, but because they were filed in court, they have played out more publicly. Two of the cases filed in recent days involve allegations against clergymen named on the archbishop’s list and in prior suits. They are Michael Hurley and the late Carl Davidson, the latter of whom spent time at St. John Vianney Church and Notre Dame Seminary while Aymond was there earlier in his career. Three other suits mostly filed under seal involve alleged abuse at Hope Haven and Madonna Manor, Catholic homes for troubled youth that were at the center of a series of suits that the archdiocese and other entities settled for $5.2 million in 2009. Attorneys working on the cases include Frank Lamothe, Kristi Schubert, John Denenea and Richard Trahant, who have numerous other clergy-abuse clients. Monday was a key deadline because, in Louisiana, people who repress memories of long-ago harm have one year from the point the memories return to file for damages. The one-year anniversary of the list’s release was Saturday, but the court was closed that day, meaning people had until Monday to meet the deadline. Yet the passing of the one-year mark is unlikely to bring a complete reprieve for the archdiocese’s attorneys. A client of lawyer Roger Stetter said on Tuesday it wasn’t until he read December 2018 news coverage of the ongoing Catholic molestation crisis that he recovered buried memories of a predator priest. The man, now 61, said he was a 10-year-old student at St. Raphael School in Gentilly when the late Monsignor Vernon Aleman took him into the rectory office and raped him. The man said he strongly considered suicide shortly after being abused by Aleman, who was not on Aymond’s list. But he clung to hope and grew up to be a mechanic, he said. He shared a copy of a lawsuit that Stetter drafted on his behalf, demanding damages from church officials. He said they will file it Wednesday. “We will get justice,” the man said in a prepared statement. “The church will be held fully responsible for what happened.” In his own statement Tuesday, Aymond said the resurgence of the church’s abuse crisis had been challenging. He pledged to “walk with victims” and said survivors are foremost in his mind and prayers. “Despite these challenges, our ministry to serve the sacramental and pastoral needs of our people and to serve the daily needs of the poor and vulnerable in our community remains steadfast,” Aymond said. “We are committed to this ministry today and everyday.”
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