More Than 100 Catholic Clerics Accused of Sex Abuse in Colorado

By Amber Fisher
Patch
November 14, 2019

https://patch.com/colorado/denver/more-100-catholic-clerics-accused-sex-abuse-colorado

More than 100 Colorado Catholic clergy members are accused of sexual abuse in a new report published by a law firm that represents sexual abuse victims in the United States. The firm's report was published several weeks after a long-awaited document on sexual abuse cases was released by the Colorado Attorney General's Office.

The law firm, Jeff Anderson & Associates, released information about 59 additional clergy members who were not named in the state attorney general's 263-page document, which was authored by former Colorado U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer. Both reports name clergy members in Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo.

Attorney Jeff Anderson said the attorney general's report, which names 43 priests who are accused of assaulting at least 166 children, is "far, far from complete in revealing the true peril."

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Anderson's law firm, which is based in Minnesota, held a news conference Wednesday with survivors of abuse by Catholic priests. One of the survivors, John Murphy, said he and his two brothers were molested by a clergy member at a camp in the 1950s.

"My late brother, Eddy, was plagued by this his whole life," Murphy said. "My brother Marty and I feel strongly about what happened to us, and the fact that the bishops didn't protect us."

Anderson said his law firm compiled the report using public data.

"In the Anderson report, we release the names and the histories of 95 priests who have worked in the State of Colorado in the three Catholic dioceses, each of whom have been publicly accused of childhood sexual abuse," he said. "There are seven [clergy members] who are yet to be identified who are revealed in the AG report but whose names we have not yet discerned."

The law firm is calling on lawmakers in Colorado to extend the state's statute of limitations so that sexual abuse survivors are given more time to file legal claims. Many of the abuse cases occurred from the 1950s to 1970s, and the statute prevents those survivors and their attorneys from pursuing civil or criminal cases.

"The Catholic bishops would hold up the statute of limitations as a shield," Anderson said. "... it's time for change. The only way for the kids to be safe is to remove the statute of limitations. It's time for public policy to not protect the predators but to protect the kids."

Anderson's 61-page report includes the identities, biographies and photographs of clerics who are accused of child sexual abuse.

Both Anderson's report and the state attorney general's report criticize the Catholic Church for keeping a poor record of sexual abuse allegations and engaging in practices that likely harmed those who reported abuse.

The attorney general's office called one of the priests, Father Harold Robert White, "the most prolific known clergy child sex abuser in Colorado history."

"His sexual abuse of children began before he was ordained in 1960, and it continued for at least 21 years in at least 6 parishes from Denver to Colorado Springs to Sterling to Loveland to Minturn to Aspen," the attorney general's report read. "During that time, it is more likely than not he sexually abused at least 63 children."

The Denver Archdiocese knew about the sexual abuses allegations against White, according to the attorney general's report.

"When he had sexually abused enough children at a parish that scandal threatened to erupt, the Denver Archdiocese moved him to a new one geographically distant enough that White was not known there," the report read. "The Denver Archdiocese repeated this cycle at least 6 times and never once restricted his ministry, or removed him from ministry, or sent him off for genuine psychiatric evaluation and care."

The Archdiocese of Denver has launched two reparations programs over the past 13 years to support sexual abuse survivors. The programs offer victims counseling and assistance.

Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila issued the following statement in response to the report authored by former Colorado U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer:

"One of the important goals of this independent review was to determine whether our children are safe—whether there are diocesan priests in ministry with substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. From his review, Mr. Troyer identified no diocesan priests in active ministry in the Archdiocese with substantiated claims of sexual abuse of a minor. His report also found no substantiated reports of sexual abuse of minors by diocesan priests in the Archdiocese within the past 20 years. Consistent with every study of the sexual abuse scandal in the Church—over 85% of the reported cases examined by Mr. Troyer are from the 1970's or earlier. The last substantiated incident of abuse across all three dioceses was 1998 (and that priest is in prison and the case was handled properly by the Archdiocese). The horror of this abuse is something we must learn from, and for me it culminates in a single word: VIGILANCE.

Now we must learn from the suffering of the victims and never assume that we could not face another perpetrator in our midst. We, more than any organization in this country, know we must be vigilant."

Archbishop Aquila also released the following statement in response to the survivors of childhood sexual abuse:

"I want to start by addressing the courage of the survivors who have shared the stories of their abuse. As a result of the Attorney General and Church's shared efforts to have this issue investigated and a report published, several survivors have come forward for the first time and more are likely to come forward in the days ahead. We recognize how difficult it is for survivors of abuse to share their stories, and we thank all of you for your courage. If any survivor wishes to meet with me personally, my door is open. I have met with many survivors, and from these heart wrenching personal interactions, I know there are no words that I can say that will take away the pain. However, I want to be clear that on behalf of myself and the Church, I apologize for the pain and hurt that this abuse has caused, and for anytime the Church's leaders failed to prevent it from happening. I am sorry about this horrible history— but it is my promise to continue doing everything I can so it never happens again. My sincere hope is that this report provides some small measure of justice and healing.

As we all read about the abuse of the past, it is easy to become angry at the abusers and those who protected them, and deeply saddened at the damage these perpetrators inflicted on children. Indeed, two priests, Robert White and Leonard Abercrombie, account for over 60% of all the victims in the report. These two men devastated dozens of victims and their families. Fourteen years ago, in 2006, the Archdiocese of Denver established a program for victims of priests to come forward, and more than 50 victims came forward and received financial compensation. More have come forward since then. I commit to you through the independent compensation program jointly opened two weeks ago—by all three dioceses in Colorado—that we are here to help you if you were abused by one of these two priests or any other diocesan priest."

The Archdiocese of Denver also released the following statement:

The archdiocese, more than any other institution, recognizes the importance of remaining vigilant and has gone to great lengths to continually strengthen and improve the policies and procedures we have in place to protect children over the last three decades. While the archdiocese is working to reconcile with the past and address historic allegations of abuse through the recently launched Independent Reparations and Reconciliation Program, it is objectively false for anyone to claim that children today are any less safe in the Archdiocese of Denver than other youth-serving institutions. It is also objectively false for anyone to claim that nothing has changed within the Archdiocese of Denver in the last 70 years with how we work to prevent, respond to, and report sexual abuse.

We are not in a position to comment on hypothetical legislation. In general, statute of limitations exist for a reason. We would hope that any proposed changes would be considered in a manner that is consistent and fair to everyone.

For now, we remain focused on our own efforts to support survivors. Importantly, the Independent Reparations and Reconciliation Program is administered independent from the archdiocese by nationally known mediators and is open to anyone sexually abused as a minor by a diocesan priest, no matter when the alleged abuse occurred and without regard for the statute of limitations. Victims' advocates and the hundreds of survivors who have participated in similar private settlement programs around the country view these programs as being better for survivors than lengthy and adversarial litigation. The archdiocese also initiated a similar program in 2006, that over 50 survivors participated in.