By Andrew Fefer
WEAU
February 17, 2010
http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/84644117.html
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On Tuesday, a former La Crosse Diocese Bishop spoke out about a case against a priest for the first time. It involves a sexual assault accusation from when Jerome Listecki was still in La Crosse. Now Eau Claire Police Chief Jerry Matysik wants a diocese policy about sexual assault to change.
The La Crosse Diocese website shows anyone who wants to report sexual abuse of a child should send it to one of its monsignors, and that they should also take their reports to civil authorities.
"There isn't a gray area," Matysik said. "This isn't something that we can sort of do half-right now."
Matysik wants the diocese to encourage Catholics to report incidents to the police first...period. He points to an active sexual assault case that former Bishop Jerome Listecki did nothing about.
"What she had reported to us was a he said-she said situation," Listecki said. The woman then went to the police, and La Crosse County prosecutors filed a criminal charge against priest Edmund Donkor-Baine.
"I think that case is a good example that the system that the church is advocating didn't work very well," Matysik said. He says the diocese controls its policies, and he'll continue to keep urging it to change this one.
Diocese attorney James Birnbaum told us his client is only trying to help any potential victims by acting on reports quickly. He says an independent group of retired law enforcement personnel reviews the policy yearly, and that it's never been questioned. He says the policy goes to every district attorney in it's territory, and he's also never heard of a problem with it.
Birnbaum also says it's arrogant of the chief to think only his view, which Birnbaum says was rendered without any experience with the diocese, is the only view that's right.
Chief Matysik says the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association is working on a position statement against the policy
Contact: andrew.fefer@weau.com
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