ILLINOIS
Daily Herald
By Tona Kunz
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Saturday, July 23, 2005
The mental health records of a former Geneva priest won’t become leverage in a civil suit against him for sexual abuse.
An attorney for the two women suing Mark Campobello and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockford had sought the medical records. The women hope to find references to evaluations and treatment referrals related to the sexual abuse, which would show what the diocese knew about the abuse and when.
Although Kane County Judge F. Keith Brown found the diocese had records of treatment referrals made after the diocese became concerned with Campobello’s conduct, the judge deemed the records unusable in civil lawsuits. The conduct of concern was not identified.
Brown ruled that all of the records he was provided by the diocese were either irrelevant to the civil suits or protected by the state’s health confidentiality act.
Key to the confidentiality protection is the fact that Campobello has objected to the release of the documents. The diocese, which acted as a go-between for Campobello and the medical providers, does not have the right, nor can it be forced, to turn over the records over Campobello’s objections, Brown ruled.