8,000 instances of abuse alleged in Archdiocese bankruptcy hearing

[Alan Ferris]

8,000 instances of abuse alleged in Archdiocese bankruptcy hearing
By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/archdiocese-bankruptcy-judge-allows-two-claims-to-stand-me44pue-139044534.html

Sealed documents filed in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy
identify at least 8,000 instances of child sexual abuse and 100
alleged offenders - 75 of them priests - who have not previously been
named by the archdiocese, a victims' attorney said Thursday.

Archdiocese spokeswoman Julie Wolf said she did not have enough
information to respond to the assertion, made by attorney Jeffrey
Anderson during a pivotal hearing before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan
V. Kelley. Anderson represents about 350 of the 570 victim-survivors
who have filed claims in the case.

But Peter Isely of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
speculated that some are likely members of religious orders, such as
Capuchins or Franciscans. Order officials do not typically make public
the names of their accused members, and the archdiocese claims it is
not responsible for them, though they have historically helped to
staff its parishes and schools.

"This is a public safety crisis, a child safety crisis that needs to
be investigated," Isely said at a news conference on the federal
courthouse steps, surrounded by fellow survivors and reporters.

"We need to know who they are and where they are. How can there be
8,000 crimes committed by over 100 offenders and there be no
accountability?" he said.

Kelley let stand, at least for now, two survivors' claims that the
church had sought to bar, arguing they were beyond the statute of
limitations.

In the split decision, Kelley also granted the church's motion for
summary judgment, effectively dismissing a third claim in which a
victim had signed a prior settlement agreement with the church.

In an emotional preamble to her ruling, before a packed courtroom,
Kelley expressed a reverence for the Catholic Church and compassion
for the victims, saying she was "brought to tears more than once"
reading the accounts of the men and women who allege they were
sexually abused as children by priests, deacons, nuns, teachers and
others over the past 60 years.

"But I cannot let compassion be the basis for my decision. It must be
governed by law," Kelley said.

Archdiocese attorney Frank LoCoco acknowledged the gravity of the
allegations at the outset of the hearing.

"This will be the most difficult professional decision you will ever
make," LoCoco told Kelley.

Kelley made it clear that her rulings applied to the three individual
cases at hand, not broad classes of claims they may represent.
Allowing the two claims to stand doesn't guarantee they will be paid
in the bankruptcy, only that the legal debate over when the statute of
limitations begins ticking must be decided at trial.

The archdiocese had sought the dismissal of three claims involving two
priests and a parish choir director who were accused of molesting boys
in the 1970s and '80s. Church lawyers argued that the cases were
beyond the statute of limitations and involved a victim who signed a
previous settlement agreement and a perpetrator - the choir director -
who was not a direct employee.

Victims' attorneys had characterized the church's objections as a test
case that, if successful, would have eliminated 95% of the claims in
the bankruptcy.

Kelly disallowed the claim involving the prior settlement because the
victim didn't meet all of the criteria for voiding a signed agreement.

Much of the debate Thursday centered on how to apply the state's
six-year statute of limitations on fraud allegations. LoCoco argued
that the clock began ticking at the latest in 2004, when the
archdiocese posted its online list of 44 priests with substantiated
allegations of abuse.

Anderson said the victims didn't know they were defrauded until 2006
and 2009, when they learned, in some cases through documents released
as part of a California settlement, that the archdiocese had lied to
them about their abusers' histories.

"When a few did go forward and asked questions, what were they told?
Lies," Anderson said.

Anderson raised the issue of the 100 additional accused offenders,
culled from his own clients' claims, as part of his defense of the
claims.

The archdiocese has said that it turns over all new claims of
allegations involving living priests to the appropriate district
attorney's office, though it is not clear whether that includes
religious order priests and others it doesn't consider its employees.

The victims were not identified in court or in the documents filed on
the issues raised Thursday. The claims of all but about 30
victim-survivors are filed under seal as part of a court order
intended to protect the identities of any victim seeking anonymity.

The three cases at issue Thursday involved:

The now-defrocked Father Franklyn Becker, who had served as pastor at
Holy Family Parish in Whitefish Bay. The victim alleges Becker abused
him between 1972 and '74, when the victim was 13 to 16 years old.

Father David Hanser, also since laicized, who is accused of molesting
a 7-year-old boy in 1977-'78 when he was associate pastor at St. John
Vianney Parish in Brookfield.

Robert Schaefer, then-choir director at St. Catherine Parish in
Milwaukee. Schaefer is accused of repeatedly molesting a boy from 1976
to 1982, beginning when the boy was about 10 years old.

Becker and Hanser have well-established histories as serial sex
offenders; both were laicized by the archdiocese and appear on its
list of offender priests. At least one other man has accused Schaefer
of abusing him as a teenager. Schaefer is not listed on the
archdiocese's website.


--
Ferrit

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