ROCHESTER (NY)
Democrat and Chronicle
February 11, 2020
By Steve Orr and Sean Lahman
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Bishop Emeritus Matthew Clark must provide sworn testimony about the history of child sexual abuse in the Rochester diocese.
Clark’s attorney Mary Jo Korona had argued that his Alzheimer’s disease left him unable to competently testify and said questioning him would place him under stress and worsen his symptoms.
But after 20 minutes of oral arguments at a court hearing Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul R. Warren interrupted lawyers to say he had decided that Clark would have to sit for a deposition of three hours’ length.
Lawyers for abuse victims had asked for at least seven hours of questioning.
It was the second significant ruling of the day in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, in which the diocese is seeking to resolve several hundred claims of child sexual abuse while retaining enough resources to continue its ministry.
Earlier in the hearing, Warren ordered that all claims be filed with the bankruptcy court by Aug. 13.
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The Aug. 13 bar date, as it’s called, coincides with the end of a one-year window during which people can bring suit for past child sexual abuse under New York’s Child Victims Act.
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Warren also ruled that Clark must turn over any diaries, notes, letters or other personal written records still in his possession that shed light on past abuse.
That written material is distinct from the diocese’s confidential personnel files, often called the sub secreto files, that the bishop keeps under lock and key. Victims’ lawyers say those files often contain evidence of abuse by church ministers and attempts by higher-ups to protect the abusers.
The diocese’s lawyer, Stephen Donato, said “thousands and thousands” of these documents have been pulled from the diocese’s files and are now being reviewed by a firm in India hired to redact names of victims and other personal information.
That process should be completed in “a few more weeks,” he said, after which copies of the records will be given to victims’ lawyers.
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