By Cathy Lynn Grossman
USA Today
November 8, 2011
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2011-11-08/penn-state-abuse-catholic-church/51126676/1
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| David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, holds up a photo of Eric Patterson, who killed himself after revelations of his alleged abuse by a priest, during a 2002 news conference. |
It was June 2002, and the nation had been punched in the gut by a cascade of revelations of priests' sexual abuse of children and teens, abuse that had been hidden or denied for decades.
"We are the ones, whether through ignorance or lack of vigilance or — God forbid — with knowledge, who allowed priest abusers to remain in ministry and reassigned them to communities where they continued to abuse," said Bishop Wilton Gregory, then-president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and now archbishop of Atlanta.
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Gregory's next words echoed this weekend in State College, Pa., where once-respected Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is now accused of abusing eight young boys, and two officials are accused of perjury for covering up for him.
"We are the ones who chose not to report the criminal actions of priests to the authorities, because the law did not require this," Gregory said.
The parallels to State College are grim. Despite an eyewitness account that alleged Sandusky molested a 10-year-old in the football locker room showers, no one called local or campus police. No one sought the child to provide help. And no one prevented Sandusky from years of continued access to more children through a charity for at-risk children, Second Mile.
That's much like the bishops' scandal, which erupted during the Boston trial of a priest accused of molesting a boy in a swimming pool.
Between 1950 and 2002, according to a John Jay College of Criminal Justice study, 10,667 individuals had made allegations against clergy or church employees or volunteers. Annual studies conducted between 2004 and 2010 have added 4,988 credible reports of abuse, according to statistics provided by the bishops' group.
The people of the community around State College, the Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, Pa., had at least two dozen priests credibly accused of sexually abusing minors, according to BishopAccountability.org.
Allegations piled up within the diocese for years, but a letter from the diocesan bishop, James Hogan, to one of several accused priests in 1994, shows how Hogan dealt with it. He wrote: "Painful as the situation is, we must safeguard your own good name, protect the priestly reputation and prevent scandal from touching the church — even if unjust."
That letter came to light in the horrific case of the alleged abuse of Michael Hutchinson by priest Francis Luddy — a case that stretched from 1987 to 2007.
The Altoona-Johnstown Diocese spent millions of dollars and two decades fighting Hutchinson's claim in the courts before finally losing decisively and paying the scarred young man a $1.5 million settlement plus $700,000 in interest, according to Hutchinson's attorney, Richard Serbin.
That added to nearly $8 million already paid to dozens of victims in Altoona-Johnstown, USA TODAY research in 2004 shows. Serbin says he dealt with 50 victims in Altoona-Johnstown and saw more than 100 young people learn they had no legal case because of the statute of limitations.
Although the Pennsylvania attorney general has called for victims to come forward to police now, Serbin is unsure whether they are ready or able to step forward.
"Victims are embarrassed, humiliated, and they think they did something wrong to encourage this. It may be years before they can speak up for themselves. I've had cases where priests name the kids they've abused, and the kids denied it.
"And several of my clients, including one in Altoona-Johnstown, have committed suicide."
Looking back on those ugly years, Catholics who dealt then and deal now with caring for victims and preventing new abuse view the Penn State case with pain and some outrage.
After 2002, the church established comprehensive protection programs, audited nearly 200 dioceses yearly for compliance and set a zero-tolerance baseline for abuse: Any priest credibly accused was to be removed from ministry.
Meanwhile, Sandusky was allowed by Second Mile officials to continue his association with the program for years after they were aware of allegations against him.
Al Notzen, head of the bishops' National Review Board, established to monitor the response said Tuesday: "Child abuse is a societal problem. It has to be dealt with in families, schools and all institutions with children. Find the problems, confront them, care for the victims and keep children safe."
David Clohessy, executive director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said Tuesday, "If there are eight known victims, many many more will come forward."
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