Catholic Nun charged with sexually abusing boys
Pastor Dale Morgan
Catholic Nun charged with sexually abusing boys*
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 5, 2006, 10:20 PM CST
A Sister of Mercy who taught in Chicago-area Catholic schools for more
than three decades has been indicted in Wisconsin over allegations that
she abused pupils at a Milwaukee school nearly 40 years ago.
Sister Norma Giannini is accused of having sexual intercourse with two
boys—ages 12 and 13—when they were students at St. Patrick Elementary
School in the 1960s. According to a criminal complaint, more than 100
sexual encounters took place in the church's convent, school office and
one victim's home.
Charges are allowable against Giannini, 78, because in Wisconsin the
statute of limitations halts if the alleged offender leaves the state.
Giannini, who was serving as an 8th-grade teacher and principal at St.
Patrick's at the time of the alleged assaults, moved to Illinois in 1969.
The Sisters of Mercy removed Giannini from service in December 1992 when
the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee notified them of allegations
against her, according to Sister Betty Smith, president of the order's
Chicago region.
After treatment at a facility in St. Louis, Giannini returned to do
clerical work for the order and was never allowed to work with minors
again, Smith said, adding that Giannini now lives in a retirement center
in the western suburbs.
The archdiocese apparently did not report the allegations to civil
authorities. The accusers recently began working with Milwaukee law
enforcement, and prosecutors filed charges Monday.
Giannini was principal of Most Holy Redeemer school in Evergreen Park
when she was removed. Smith said parents at the time were not told why
Giannini's contract had been terminated in the middle of the school year.
"We are much wiser about this now," Smith said. "Our sense of duty has
changed as the years have evolved. I think we tried to respond the best
we could with justice, with compassion and with what we thought was
sensitivity to all parties involved. As these years have unfolded with
the whole onslaught of clergy abuse, we've [learned] there is
responsibility to report any abuse."
Giannini is not the only Sister of Mercy facing abuse allegations. Smith
said two other nuns—one of them dead—also have been accused. Citing
confidentiality, she would not name the nuns and said she could not say
if the order has reported the allegations to civil authorities.
"There are instances where there have been other individuals who have
come forward," Smith said. "Those situations have been handled
separately. There are no criminal charges of any sort."
According to the criminal complaint, Giannini admitted to an
archdiocesan review board in August 1996 that she had sexual intercourse
and oral sex with the two boys. The sexual encounters allegedly occurred
during music lessons after school and while one boy delivered newspapers
to the convent on his paper route.
"She told the panel that she took vows at the age of 18 and she had
lived a sheltered life and did not know anything about sex," the
complaint says. "She told the panel that it was infatuation, and she was
lonely. ... She stated during the interview that the sexual act was not
as strong as the emotional need for intimacy."
"Once I left Milwaukee nothing ever happened," she reportedly told the
panel. "I never intended to hurt a child. ... I thought I was in love
with both of them."
Like many dioceses, the Milwaukee archdiocese opened its investigations
of abuse allegations to law enforcement in 2002, said communications
director Kathleen Hohl. This week's criminal charges came as a surprise,
she said.
"We are reviewing our files to construct a chronology," Hohl added.
Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by
Priests, said that since 2002 the group has fielded more than 2,000
allegations against Roman Catholic clergy and 300 against nuns nationwide.
Although it is difficult for any victim of sexual abuse to come forward,
"We think it's hardest for those abused by nuns, by sisters," Blaine said.
Jan Hindman, a clinical therapist and author in Oregon who has studied
more than 1,000 sexual abuse cases, said the emotional damage can be
especially severe when women are the abusers.
"It's about betrayal," said Hindman. "The greater the expectation, the
greater the trauma when they betray. We have great expectations for
women. ... Add to that a powerful position as a nun, that makes it even
more difficult."
A Chicago native, Giannini began teaching in 1949 and served at parish
schools including St. Paul of the Cross in Park Ridge, St. Catherine in
West Dundee, St. Ita in Chicago, St. Catherine in Oak Park and the
now-closed St. Finbarr in Chicago until 1964.
After her stint in Milwaukee she returned to Illinois in 1969 and served
at Christ the King in Chicago until 1972. She then worked at Mother
McAuley High School until 1977, finishing there as one of four deans
before becoming principal of Little Flower on the South Side.
After a brief return to Mother McAuley, she moved to St. Clare of
Montefalco in Chicago, then became principal of Holy Redeemer in 1989.
Because each nun takes a vow of poverty, Smith said, the religious order
would finance her legal defense.
In February, a Wisconsin jury convicted Rev. Donald McGuire, a renowned
Jesuit priest, of molesting two Loyola Academy students during retreats
in the Lake Geneva area in 1967 and 1968. Prosecutors chose to try
McGuire in Wisconsin because he, too, was not shielded by the state's
statute of limitations.