NEW ORLEANS (LA)
Nola.com [New Orleans, LA]
August 8, 2023
By Gordon Russell and Joseph Cranney
Catholic Church pushes back, denies allegations were ‘mishandled’
On at least six occasions, New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond decided against adding Roman Catholic priests to the church’s list of clergymen accused of abuse, despite a church advisory board’s conclusions that the the victims’ statements were credible, The Guardian reported Tuesday.
The Guardian’s article cites a memo that was prepared by attorneys representing abuse survivors. The memo is based on documents the lawyers received through the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ bankruptcy case, in which abuse victims are among the many creditors.
After initially balking, Aymond in 2020 eventually added one of the priests flagged in the article to the list of credibly accused clergy, The Guardian reported. But it’s unclear why the archbishop did not do so in the other cases, in keeping with public pledges of transparency made by the church in the wake of the 2002 disclosures of widespread abuse by The Boston Globe.
The archdiocese doubled down on those promises in 2018, when it published what purported to be a complete list of known abusers.
Pushing back
Aymond declined a request for an interview with The Times-Picayune on Tuesday, citing a protective order over the bankruptcy proceedings. But in a prepared statement, the archdiocese pushed back hard against The Guardian’s story, adamantly disputing that any allegations of sexual abuse were “mishandled” by Aymond or the archdiocese and suggesting that the memo failed to capture the full circumstances of each case.
“Each allegation is complex and unique,” the statement said. “A finding of credibility by the Internal Review Board is not a determination of guilt … Investigations are ongoing to allow for the acceptance of new information as we endeavor to determine the truth. New information could be new witnesses with contradictory information, discovery of new evidence making the allegations implausible, and in some instances, recanting all or part of the allegation.
“The cases cited by The Guardian are instances where information came to light that called into question the facts presented to the Internal Review Board.”
The statement also said that attorneys are using the memo “to delay the bankruptcy proceedings and to publicly discredit Archbishop Aymond and the Church.”
The O’Donnell case
Each of the cases cited in the memo prepared by the plaintiffs’ attorneys is distinct. Perhaps the most perplexing one, based on the facts it outlines, is that of William O’Donnell, who, according to the article, had been retired for three years when the church first received allegations about him in 2016.
O’Donnell, who served at churches in Mandeville and Lacombe, was accused of raping two adolescent boys repeatedly over a period of about two years. It’s not clear when the alleged abuse occurred. Seven of the review board’s 10 members found the claims were credible “based on a preponderance of the evidence,” and the church opted to pay settlements of $125,000 and $100,000, according to The Guardian.
Nonetheless, Aymond decided the O’Donnell allegations had “no semblance of truth,” and opted not to put the already retired priest on the credibly accused list, The Guardian reported. The archbishop maintained that view even after another allegation against O’Donnell was received in 2018, the newspaper said. The latter accusation – that the priest spanked teenagers – was never referred to the review board.
Three new names
O’Donnell is still not on the list of credibly accused priests, which includes more than 70 names. Of the seven clergymen mentioned in The Guardian article, O’Donnell, Joseph Benson and Jerry Dabria have not previously been publicly linked to the clergy abuse scandal in New Orleans.
The others named in the article — Luis Henao, Brian Highfill, Paul Hart and Luis Fernandez — have been the focus of publicly aired abuse allegations. But Highfill is the only one whose name is on the archdiocese’s list of credibly accused priests.
Highfill was added in 2020, two years after the review board determined the allegations against him were credible.
Highfill, Hart and Dabria are dead. Henao, in his 80s and living with dementia in Colombia, retired because of his age and health, his brother told The Guardian. Fernandez told the newspaper he denies ever abusing anyone.
O’Donnell and Benson didn’t return messages seeking comment Tuesday.
The archdiocese paid $87,500 to settle a sexual assault claim against Dabria, The Guardian reported. But those allegations were never brought to the advisory board, something the memo’s authors said was in violation of church practices.
The Hecker case
In June, The Guardian reported that as early as 2012, Aymond was aware of nine allegations facing priest Lawrence Hecker. Two of those allegations were received after Aymond became archbishop.
Back in 1999, Hecker admitted in a written confession, obtained by The Guardian, that he had molested seven teenagers he met on the job.
Still, the church waited until 2018 to acknowledge Hecker was a sexual predator.
The church later reported Hecker to law enforcement, but alerted authorities to only one of the seven cases Hecker described, The Guardian reported.
Hecker declined to address those allegations earlier this year. His attorney told The Guardian that they “will address any charges if they are brought.”
One of the two Hecker accusers who came forward during Aymond’s tenure went directly to Gretna police in 2012. When police contacted the archdiocese, an aide wrote to Aymond: “This is the NINTH allegation we have on record against Larry Hecker.”
Aymond’s focus
In a statement released to The Guardian and The Times-Picayune, Aymond said Tuesday that he is focused on “bringing the bankruptcy proceedings to their conclusion so that the survivors can be fairly compensated. I know that there is no amount of money that can bring healing to those who have been hurt.”
Complete records of where the various clergymen flagged in The Guardian’s report served were not available Tuesday. But some information is in the public record.
- Henao: Served for a time as parochial vicar of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos Parish; he also served at Annunciation Church in New Orleans and at St. Jerome Church in Kenner. During much of the 1990s, he was director of the archdiocese’s Hispanic Apostolate.
- Highfill: Served at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in New Orleans; St. Ann, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Edward the Confessor and St. Francis Xavier in Metairie; and St. Francis de Sales in Houma.
- Hart: Worked at Brother Martin High School, Mount Carmel Academy and St. Joseph’s Abbey.
- Fernandez: Taught at St. John Vianney Prep.
- Dabria: Served at St. Angela Merici in Metairie and St. Pius X in Crown Point, as well as at churches in LaPlace, Destrehan and St. Bernard.
- O’Donnell: Served at Mary Queen of Peace in Mandeville and at Sacred Heart Church in Lacombe.
- Benson: Served at Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos Parish in New Orleans and St. Margaret Mary Church in Slidell.