LANSING (MI)
Lansing State Journal
Oct. 17, 2019
By Kara Berg
The Diocese of Lansing did not handle a sexual assault case from the 1990s appropriately, according to a report commissioned by the diocese, which was released Thursday.
The Rev. Pat Egan, who was found to have sexually assaulted a man in 2014, had also sexually assaulted someone in the 1990s.
An independent law firm reviewed how the diocese handled the two reports of sexual assault against Egan and found that, while the diocese handled the 2014 case well, it failed to investigate the 1990 report.
“I repeat publicly now what I have said privately and personally to the victim in question: I am deeply sorry for the Diocese’s past failure and all should know that the allegation would have been handled differently today,” Bishop Earl Boyea said in a statement.
In September, the diocese released a list of 17 priests credibly accused of sexually abusing minors. All 17 priests are either dead, have been removed from active ministry or are defrocked.
Egan, now 82, first arrived in Lansing from the Archdiocese of Westminster in England as an extern priest in 1983. He has lived on-and-off in the Ann Arbor area since then, according to the diocese.
A 27-year-old man wrote to Egan in February 1990, telling the priest he had sexually abused him, according to the report, which was compiled by Patrick Hurford and his law firm, Honigman LLP.
The man said Egan sexually abused him while taking part in boxing training the year prior. Egan disputed the report, and the diocese was made aware of it.
No investigation, however, was done into the man’s allegation and no action was taken against Egan, according to the report.
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