MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Jan. 17, 2013
Lawyers for sex-abuse victims in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy are asking the judge to make public all records involving credibly accused priests, depositions and other sealed documents, saying the move is needed to protect children.
They accuse the archdiocese of using the bankruptcy’s broad protective order, which is intended to shield victims, to deny police detectives in an ongoing investigation access to information about a now defrocked priest.
“This is exactly why the public is served by relief of the protective order,” said victims attorney Jeff Anderson, whose firm asked Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley on Friday to modify the order to allow the limited release of information, while still protecting the identities of victims.
Jerry Topczewski, chief of staff for Archbishop Jerome Listecki, said it’s the archdiocese’s policy to cooperate with civil authorities. He attributed its failure to provide information about former priest Jerome Wagner to the Fond du Lac Police Department last fall as a breakdown in internal communication involving its newly hired victims advocate.
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