NEW JERSEY
The Record
BY JEFF GREEN
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD
ORADELL – Men who say they were victims as children of clergy sexual abuse are protesting Bergen Catholic High School’s response to their claims against two Christian Brothers who they allege molested them in the 1960s and 1970s.
The men say the school has dragged its feet through settlement talks, now going on four months, and that officials never offered them an apology or counseling, a widely adopted practice in Catholic dioceses since the nationwide sexual abuse crisis exploded in 2002.
On Thursday, Road to Recovery, a victim’s advocacy group, raised those issues in a protest outside the high school, and one of the 19 claimants spoke publicly about how he felt newly victimized by school officials.
“I’ve been routinely brushed off by the powers that be at Bergen Catholic,” said Kobutsu Malone, 65, who started a website called bergencatholicabuse.com. “I’ve been ridiculed, my claims have been declared not viable, and all together I think these people are trying to sweep something under the rug.”
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