BishopAccountability.org

Diocese faces several new lawsuits

By Frank Wilkes Lesnefsky And Terrie Morgan-Besecker
Citizens' Voice
August 14, 2020

https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/diocese-faces-several-new-lawsuits/article_854266ed-c785-5636-8b15-ba880c007e97.html

Bishop Joseph Bambera and the Diocese of Scranton are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Attorneys filed more than two dozen lawsuits against the Diocese of Scranton this week, just days before the second anniversary of the 2018 state grand jury report that revealed widespread sexual abuse and cover ups among Roman Catholic clergy.

Of the 30 lawsuits, nearly all of which were filed between Monday and Thursday, Times-Shamrock Newspapers confirmed at least 24 pertain to sexual abuse. Although the remaining six suits appear to relate to sexual abuse, attempts to reach the attorneys to confirm were unsuccessful.

Twenty-eight of the lawsuits were writs of summons that put defendants on notice they are being sued but do not contain information about the allegations, which will be filed later. Attorneys filed two full complaints naming alleged abusers and outlining allegations.

A state Superior Court decision last year effectively reopened the window for victims to file claims, even if the accusations of abuse were decades old and fell outside the original statute of limitations. In that case, Renee Rice’s claims of sexual abuse against the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown were initially dismissed because they were outside the statute of limitations, but the Superior Court overturned the ruling. The court determined that when a case involves accusations that the church concealed abuse, a jury should decide if the victim’s delay in coming forward was reasonable.

Philadelphia attorney Martin G. Rubenstein, whose firm filed seven lawsuits in Lackawanna County, said the plaintiffs had to ensure they filed their cases within two years of the grand jury report release, which put them on notice of the alleged cover up. He said he filed cases in Lehigh, Allegheny and Erie counties as well.

The grand jury report, which was released Aug. 14, 2018, accused 301 priests statewide of sexually abusing children, including 59 in the Diocese of Scranton. State civil litigation rules generally require legal action to be initiated within two years from when someone realizes they’ve been harmed.

The viability of the recently filed cases are dependent upon the state Supreme Court’s pending ruling in the Rice case. If the court rules against Rice, her case and others filed statewide will be dismissed.

The Diocese of Scranton joins Pennsylvania’s seven other Roman Catholic dioceses to be hit with a total of about 150 lawsuits by individuals who allege they were sexually abused as children.

The bulk of the cases were filed against the Pittsburgh, Allentown, Scranton and Philadelphia dioceses.

Of the at least 150 cases filed throughout the state, more than 75% were instituted since the beginning of July, Diocese of Scranton spokesman Eric Deabill said in an email. The vast majority of the cases involve abuse that allegedly occurred more than three decades ago, Deabill said.

“The filing of these cases has occurred statewide despite the fact that nearly every diocese in Pennsylvania, including the Diocese of Scranton, has established its own program to compensate survivors of childhood sexual abuse,” he said, explaining the program are run independent of each diocese, and survivor’s participation is voluntary.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based attorney Adam D. Horowitz filed nearly half of the new lawsuits against the Diocese of Scranton with 12 writs of summons. He filed the suits in conjunction with Harrisburg-based Andreozzi + Foote law firm. Victims in the newly filed cases fell into two categories, he said.

They were either individuals who rejected the Diocese of Scranton’s offer from its victim compensation fund, or those who came forward with their abuse after the fund had closed, Horowitz said. For his clients, about half rejected the diocese’s offer, he said.

Launched in January 2019, the fund aimed to compensated survivors of sexual abuse, including who who had not previously reported abuse to the diocese. The window to submit a claim for the fund closed Aug. 1, 2019.

As of May, the diocese had paid out $18 million of the $25 million in the fund across about 140 settlements.




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