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	Teacher Says Bishop Verot Firing Came after Wanting Priest Investigated By Gabriella Souza News-Press June 21, 2011 http://www.news-press.com/article/20110621/NEWS0104/110621034/0/NEWS0102/Teacher-says-Bishop-Verot-firing-came-after-wanting-priest-investigated?odyssey=nav|head A former Bishop Verot High School teacher has filed suit against his employer, saying his firing came after he requested an investigation of claims a priest asked girls for sexual details during confession. Chris Wilson requested more than $15,000 in damages in the lawsuit, which names the Fort Myers Catholic high school, the Diocese of Venice and its Bishop Frank Dewane. The diocese fired Wilson on May 17. According to the lawsuit, Wilson talked to five girls who told him the Rev. Cory Mayer, who visited Verot in April and is the diocese’s director of vocations based in Venice, asked them during confessions if they masturbated or had sex. The teens said Mayer pressed them to answer, telling them he couldn’t absolve them of their sins if they did not comply, the suit said. Diocese spokesman Billy Atwell said the diocese had no comment, as it had not seen the lawsuit. Wilson said he informed his boss, who then informed the principal of the confession incident. “I felt I had a moral obligation to the students I work with and my own daughters,” said Wilson, who has two girls, “knowing that if they were in a situation similar to this I would want to know it was being handled properly.” As teachers are required by law to report any incident they believe to be abuse or neglect, Wilson said he believed the incident met the criteria to inform the Department of Children and Families and later the Fort Myers Police Department. A month later, Wilson was fired. He said Verot administrators told him it was for insubordination, although he does not understand the charge. The diocese declined comment on the specifics of his firing but Atwell said Wilson’s firing was not related to complaints about Mayer. FMPD and DCF confirmed receiving reports about the incident. Police told Wilson they believed nothing criminal had happened, according to an FMPD document. A DCF investigator did some initial investigation but administrators and an agency attorney determined it did not fall into the agency’s purview and closed the case two days later, said Erin Gillespie, a department spokeswoman. “We did not have the jurisdiction to investigate because there were no allegations of abuse or neglect,” she said. Mayer could not be reached for comment today, although he previously has declined to talk about the incidents. Along with his duties recruiting young men to the priesthood, he also coordinates religious ceremonies for Cardinal Mooney High School in Tampa as well as Bishop Verot. In an interview last month, spokesman Atwell said the diocese stood behind Mayer. He said the diocese cannot ask Mayer what specifically was addressed with the girls at Bishop Verot because canon law says confessions are private between the priest and person confessing. Atwell also said in May not one of the girls had contacted the diocese’s victim’s assistance coordinator, and the diocese believed nothing inappropriate had happened. “There was no cause for concern,” Atwell said. “Many people do feel uncomfortable having to address their conscience, address their sins and make amends for them.”
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