April 11, 2005

Supreme Court confronts abuse by priests: Law shift on clergy abuse?

WISCONSIN
The Capital Times

By Pat Schneider
April 11, 2005

It is the consummate irony, says Peter Isely, Midwest coordinator for SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Documents from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, purportedly detailing church officials' efforts to shield a convicted pedophile priest accused of re-offending while on court-ordered probation, were divulged in a lawsuit brought in California.

That's where church officials transferred Siegfried Widera after trying to "keep a lid on" the new assault "so no police record would be made."

"The archdiocese had to produce those documents in California, but Wisconsin victims of this man cannot go to court," Isely said.

The documents in fact were filed in court in February in a lawsuit against the archdiocese. But as Wisconsin law now stands, the plaintiff is unlikely to get his day in court.

Posted by kshaw at April 11, 2005 05:26 PM