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	Widow of Abuse Victim Seeks to Reopen Suit against Diocese By Beth Miller The News Journal October 27, 2009 http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20091027/NEWS/91027055/Widow+of+abuse+victim+seeks+to+reopen+suit+against+diocese A New Castle County woman today asked U.S. Bankruptcy Court to allow her to reopen her late husband’s child sexual abuse case against the Diocese of Wilmington, despite the diocese’s Chapter 11 protection process, because it has not complied with non-monetary terms of the settlement. In the filing, Nancy McClure, whose husband Doug received a settlement of more than $1.5 million from the diocese two days before his death in April, says two letters of apology -- required in the terms -- have never been received by his family. In addition to the financial settlement, the diocese issued a press release in April apologizing for the abuse McClure suffered. But the required letters were never sent, a failure that shows the diocese cannot be trusted to follow through on its promises, said Steven Neuberger, whose firm represented McClure in his suit against the diocese and St. Ann's Church for claims of abuse by the late Rev. Edward Carley. Diocese attorney Anthony G. Flynn said the failure was his alone. He intended to send the letters and, despite a reminder from Neuberger in July, did not do so. Scores of legal motions and filings were under way at the time. The diocese faces more than 130 lawsuits related to child sexual abuse by priests. “I just didn’t get it done - it’s true,” Flynn said. “It fell to the bottom of my pile where, honestly, it remained until today. The letters will go out promptly.” Judge Christopher Sontchi was to hear arguments on the motion by McClure’s widow on Nov. 12. The diocese last week filed for Chapter 11 protection the night before a series of child sexual abuse trials was to begin in Delaware Superior Court. The filing put a stay on more than 100 cases pending in Superior Court. Bishop Francis Malooly has said the decision to file for bankruptcy was painful, but was meant to provide fair compensation to victims of the abuse while also protecting essential resources for its other ministries and programs throughout Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The failure of the diocese to send the letters -- one each from Malooly and Msgr. Thomas Cini -- shows it cannot be trusted to follow through on its promises, said Stephen J. Neuberger, whose firm represented the late Douglas McClure in his suit against the diocese and St. Ann's Church for abuse by the late Rev. Edward Carley. In addition to the monetary payment, the settlement required the diocese to produce and deliver “compassionate letters of apology” to McClure and his wife, Nancy. The letter was to acknowledge that McClure was a human being and not a faceless name, admit that he was a victim of Carley’s abuse, apologize for the rape he suffered as an 8-year-old boy, and apologize to him and his wife for years of pain and suffering. “Bishop Malooly has spent the last eight days publicly crowing that he cares so much about the many survivors of the diocese’s many child molesting priests,” Neuberger said. “But actions speak louder than words, and by his actions he has shown his true colors. More than six months have passed and still no letters of apology.... He has shown he is not to be believed and he has shown he is not to be trusted. Because despite what he says publicly, he doesn’t care. Shame on him.” Contact Beth Miller at 324-2784 or bmiller@delawareonline.com
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