MORGANTOWN (WV)
WAJR Radio
March 24, 2019
By Aalex Wiederspiel
State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said the civil suit against the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, filed in the wake of a child sexual abuse scandal, is narrowly focused on consumer protection violations.
“When you’re offering up an item or a service and you are paying tuition for it, people expect that the promises that are getting made will actually get delivered,” Morrisey said on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town” with Dave Wilson and Sarah Giosi. “Our complaint pointed out for a very prolonged period of time — really going back many decades — that the services that were in fact offered weren’t delivered.”
“The students were effectively promised a safe environment,” he continued, “but when you knowingly employ pedophiles and fail to undertake background checks and you’re not being transparent, then that ultimately puts you in jeopardy of our consumer protection laws.”
The Dallas Charter of 2002 was meant to offer reforms and protection following the lengthy investigation into Boston-area sex abuse scandals by The Boston Globe. Morrisey claims the actions of the Diocese in response to reports of sexual abuse by priests and other Diocese employees represents a consumer protection violation — and a failure to uphold those reforms.
“In spite of the new practices that the church announced back in the early 2000’s, they didn’t follow through on those and that’s obviously a real concern,” he said.
Morrisey said the Diocese’s goals should be in line with his office’s — increased transparency, more effective and efficient background checks for teachers and employees, and equal treatment of all allegations against priests and bishops alike.
“If the church were to step forward and agree with the goals that we have, then obviously the sooner that happens the quicker we can bring a lot of this to an end,” Morrisey said.
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