BishopAccountability.org
	Don't Let "Spin" by Diocese Supporter Deceive You By Karen E. Peterson The News Journal December 8, 2009 http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20091208/OPINION07/912080314/1004/OPINION/Don+t+let++spin++by+diocese+supporter+deceive+you When I read Michael P. Kelly's column, "Diocese suits really punish parishioners, not perpetrators," (Nov. 22) the first thought that came to mind was, "Let the 'spin' begin." Now that the Diocese of Wilmington has paid the high-powered public relations firm of Sitrick and Co. a $110,000 retainer to "spin" the child sexual abuse cases, I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of this kind of propaganda. First, Kelly failed to disclose that he was the late Bishop Michael Saltarelli's personal attorney during the time the diocese was trying its best to defeat Senate Bill 29, the Child Victim's Act. Second, Kelly claims that the money contributed to the church by Delaware's Catholics will be used to pay victims of child sexual abuse and their greedy lawyers. Bishop Francis Malooly has already denounced such claims, calling them "considerable misinformation, rumor and half-truth," adding that all awards and legal fees will be paid from investment reserves and insurance. Third, Kelly laments that millions will go to the victims' lawyers and that the General Assembly should never have approved such a "transfer of wealth." Does Kelly believe that the $12 million attorney's fee he collected in a 2005 federal trademark case was justifiable -- but those who represent victims of child sex abuse should get nothing? Certainly, violating a trademark is not as serious as violating a child. Fourth, Kelly states that no other state has enacted a law like Delaware's. Actually, California has. Fifth, Kelly complains that a mass murderer or cannibal cannot be sued for monetary damages more than two years after the date of his crime but child molesters can. The harm done by a mass murderer or a cannibal is immediately apparent. The harm done by a child molester is not. Does Kelly really believe that a 9-year-old child (the average age at which children are molested) has the wherewithal and the resources to understand the long-term consequences of the abuse and to sue their abusers before they reach the age of 11? Sixth, Kelly does not think it is fair that the money paid to victims will come from the diocese, not the molesters. As an attorney, Kelly certainly realizes that corporations are responsible for the gross negligence of their agents and employees when they are aware of the negligence and do nothing to stop it. When the Ford Motor Co. allowed defective gas tanks to be used in their cars, resulting in numerous deaths, they were liable. In this case, the corporation (the diocese) was aware of the molestation and did nothing to stop it. That makes the diocese liable. Seventh, Kelly claims that the Child Victim's Act is unfair because it does not apply to state institutions. That is absolutely untrue. Line 12 of S.B. 29 specifically included state institutions (including schools). In fact, 14 cases have been filed against the state under the Child Victim's Act. Eighth, Kelly asks how the diocese is supposed to defend itself against an allegation that a priest molested an altar boy in 1950 ... when the priest died 40 years ago? The burden of proof is on the accuser. Without evidence or corroboration, the accuser loses (as in the recent Oblates case). Ninth, Kelly claims that he warned everybody that the Child Victim's Act would open the floodgates of litigation, and he claims to have been a vocal opponent of the bill. The very purpose of the bill was to permit litigation that was previously time-barred, so the fact that cases have been filed was exactly what we expected. Further, Kelly never attended any of the hearings or debates on S.B. 29 and never communicated his opposition to the Senate or House committees, which conducted three days of hearings on the bill. The job of the public relations firm hired by the diocese is to convince the Catholic faithful that we are the ones being victimized in these cases. I think it's ironic that the diocese is appealing to the sympathies of those whose children they threw to the wolves. They still don't get it.
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