SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican via Mass Live
February 12, 2021
By Anne-Gerard Flynn
https://www.masslive.com/news/2021/02/cathedral-high-school-graduate-finds-validation-after-springfield-diocese-hears-her-sexual-abuse-claim-against-late-rev-karl-huller.html
Sixteen years after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield reached settlements with two men who alleged they were sexually abused by the late Rev. Karl Huller as students at Cathedral High School in the 1960s, the diocese accepted as credible a third survivor’s claim she was sexually assaulted by Huller at the school during that same time period.
The diocese, which had reached financial settlements with two men in 2004, accepted as credible in December a third survivor’s claim that she was assaulted by Huller at Cathedral High School in the 1960s.
The finding that “there is reasonable cause to believe” her allegations against Huller, who once served as the diocese’s superintendent of schools, continues an ongoing narrative that many of the accused in the Springfield diocese held high positions that allowed the abuse to be covered up. Survivors coming forward continue to say their allegations are not being handled in a timely and transparent fashion.
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian of Boston is negotiating with diocesan lawyer Kevin D. Withers of Egan, Flanagan & Cohen for financial compensation on the woman’s behalf, but was critical of the fact the allegation was reported to the diocese in November 2019 and that it has yet to release all the names of priests credibly accused.
Not to do so “continues the secrecy which prevents much needed validation for clergy sexual abuse victims and places children in danger,” Garabedian said.
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