MADISON (WI)
Urban Milwaukee
June 26, 2018
By State Rep. Chris Taylor
Files detail Flynn’s involvement covering up child sexual abuse by Catholic priests
Today, State Representatives Chris Taylor (D-Madison) and Melissa Sargent (D-Madison) called on Milwaukee attorney, Matt Flynn, to abandon his campaign for governor and withdraw from Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. The call comes after a Wisconsin Gazette article and other reports about Flynn’s involvement representing the Archdiocese of Milwaukee from 1989 until 2004, when hundreds of child sexual assault allegations committed over decades were brought against dozens of priests. Electronic files reveal that Flynn played a central role in the Archdiocese’s responses to an inundation of child sexual assault allegations against Milwaukee Diocesan priests.
“Every client deserves zealous representation,” said Taylor, a former practicing attorney. “But you can vigorously represent your client without shielding sexual predators they employ who continue to pose extreme risks to children. Unfortunately, documents show that, among other things, Mr. Flynn participated in keeping parishes and the public in the dark about dozens of these pedophile priests, placing children at risk of being sexually abused.”
Flynn represented the Milwaukee Archdiocese during one of the most extensive and egregious priest child sexual abuse scandals in the country. As summarized in the attachment derived from individual priest’s archdiocese records, Flynn was aware of priests’ sexual abuse of children, assisted in transferring abusive priests to other parishes, failed to—and sometimes prevented others from—reporting instances of child sexual abuse by priests to law enforcement, paid off priests who went on to pursue professions working with families and children, negotiated settlements with victims requiring secrecy, and filed liens against survivors whose cases fell outside the statute of limitations.
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