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	Sexual Abuse Suit Filed against Helena Diocese By Ryan Whalen Beartooth NBC September 22, 2011 http://www.beartoothnbc.com/news/montana/11861-sexual-abuse-suit-filed-against-helena-diocese.html [with video] Thirty-four men and women from across Montana who claim they were sexually abused as children by clergy members filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday afternoon against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena. Beartooth NBC's Ryan Whalen reports the plaintiffs want the church to reform. "The center picture is a picture of me on my first communion with the priest who abused me. It was taken in front of St. Francis church in Missoula, Montana and I think the picture tells a lot actually," says plaintiff Dana Short. For years, Dana Short says she couldn't come clean – tortured by fear and shame from what happened to her as a young child. But now she wants to make sure other children aren't abused by clergy in Montana. "These are innocent children. You ask me why I didn't say anything, because I was a child. I just want to help anybody else who's in this position," says Seattle sexual abuse attorney Tim Kosnoff. Short is one of more than 30 men and women entering into a lawsuit against the church claiming sexual abuse. The plaintiffs say they want compensation, but also for the church to stop covering up wrongdoing. "What we hope to do through this lawsuit is to force the Diocese of Helena to comply with the laws of the land, to protect children, to notify the public," says Kosnoff. The church says it appears the people named in the suit were missionaries from a group that has already agreed to pay 166 million dollars to settle more than 500 sex abuse claims throughout the Pacific Northwest. "The priest and men and women religious, that would be brothers and sisters that were named in this were not diocesan. They were ordered clergy of the Jesuit and Ursulan orders," says Reneè St. Martin Wizeman of the Diocese of Helena. The plaintiffs say the bishop is responsible for missionaries working in the diocese and they are still investigating. "We believe that there are many purely diocesan abusers and we hope to learn more about that as litigation goes forward," says Kosnoff. They say during this litigation process they expect many more people to come forward. "It's okay to come forward. Let your story be told because it's the only way it's going to stop," says Short. The plaintiff's claim the diocese knows better the scope of the crimes committed and needs to step forward itself. The Diocese of Helena covers the western third of the state and includes about 66 thousand Catholics. They admit litigation and settlements would potentially be a huge financial burden for the organization already dealing with institutional economic downturn.
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