ILLINOIS
EON
Five Lawsuits Filed against Diocese of Joliet, for Failing to Protect Kids from Predatory and Pedophile Priests and Teaching Staff
May 15, 2013
CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–It was a ”formula for disaster, and disaster did occur” in the form of sexual abuse of minors by priests and a non-priest teacher in the Diocese of Joliet, in incidents detailed in five lawsuits filed today in Will County Circuit Court. The incidents took place in the 1970s and ‘80s, when the plaintiffs were aged 8 to 16. The cases were filed by the Chicago-based law firm of Hurley McKenna & Mertz, PC.
The “formula for disaster” was the Diocese of Joliet allowing known or suspected predators and pedophiles to meet with young boys at remote or private locations outside the presence of other adults.
The incidents in these complaints took place in private living quarters, at off-site “retreats” including a camper parked outside of a home owned by a priest’s parents, and in the back row of a school classroom. Several of them involve priests plying minors with alcohol and then taking advantage of them. One involved an elaborate ruse in which the plaintiff was persuaded to strip out of street clothes and don a loincloth so that the priest could “practice” administering funeral rites.
Three of the complaints expressly allege that the plaintiffs were sworn to strict secrecy by their abusers. States Chris Hurley, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, “The truth was buried for a long, long time because first, kids are vulnerable and don’t really understand what is happening to them, second, they were being victimized by priests who had their complete trust and allegiance as a representative of God on earth, and third, several of our plaintiffs were actually sworn to secrecy by these priests. No wonder they didn’t talk. If their parents had had any inkling what the diocese knew when it knew it, they would have demanded immediate reporting and reform.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.