BUFFALO (NY)
WIVB
March 4, 2018
By Shannon Smith
A South Buffalo man says victims of sexual abuse deserve more from the Buffalo Catholic Diocese. It established a voluntary program Thursday to help people who’ve made abuse claims against a clergy member. But one of the victims says who’s come forward says the program doesn’t help all people.
“The people who have called me this week are not going to be included in that and that’s not fair,” said Michael Whalen, who shared his story the first time Tuesday.
Days after Michael Whalen shared his story of being sexually abused by a priest, he’s voicing concern other victims won’t be helped. He says he wants all sexual abuse victims to be included in the Buffalo Catholic Diocese Independent Reconciliation and Compensation program. It was just launched Thursday, two days after Whalen came forward.
The program allows anyone who’s made sexual abuse claims against a clergy member before Thursday to have their case heard and get a settlement.
“This program should include all of them, not just putting a date on it of March 1st of this year. I think they should all be heard,” said Whalen.
The diocese says the program is designed for anyone who made claims before March 1st, but that any claims after that would be still be investigated.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.