Milwaukee Bankruptcy Judge’s Ruling Will Allow Vast Majority of the 570 Victim Claims to Go Forward against Archdiocese

By John Pilmaier
SNAP Wisconsin
February 9, 2012

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A survey of 350 of the claims reveal at least 100 newly identified sex offenders who committed over 8,000 acts of child sex assault

70 of the newly identified are priests not listed on the archdiocesan so-called “official list” of child molesting clerics

In a stunning moment today in Milwaukee federal bankruptcy court, attorneys speaking on behalf of at least 350 victim/survivors stated that at least 100 never before publically identified child sex offenders working or volunteering in the archdiocese over the past several decades have committed over 8,000 criminal sex acts against children or minors. The sheer magnitude of these numbers and the extent of these crimes constitute a public and child safety crisis.

The numbers were revealed today as Judge Susan V. Kelley ruled against a motion by the archdiocese that would have thrown out the vast majority of the 570 victims claims that have filed into the bankruptcy court. In other words, nearly all of the 570 victim claims will be moving forward through the bankruptcy process.

Kelley also threw out one claim, narrowly, of a victim that had a prior settlement with the archdiocese. The victim, whose name was kept confidential, submitted an affidavit showing that while in mediation the archdiocese lied to him about their prior knowledge of the priest that assaulted him as a 7 year old. Kelley ruled that the victim needed to have indicated that he would not have signed a legal release if he knew he was lied to, a point not made clear in his court document. It’s unknown how many victims in the current bankruptcy court had prior settlements, likely less than 100, but the ruling today means that many of them as well—if they would not have entered settlements with knowledge that the offending cleric had a prior history of abuse–will also have their claims move forward.

No other archdiocese or church entity that has filed for bankruptcy because of child molesters has attempted to have claims thrown out as the Milwaukee archdiocese attempted to do today, rendering their failed legal maneuvers the most aggressive and combative attack against victims in courts in the US.

Kelley’s ruling today should be a warning and perhaps a last opportunity to the archdiocese to stop attacking victims in court, review and settle all legitimate victim claims, and—by far most importantly—immediately identify to law enforcement and the community the names, case histories, and current locations of the now dozens of newly identified offenders that may be in ministry, living in our community, or that have left Wisconsin for other churches or other jobs where they can continue to attack and harm children.

SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims, founded in 1987, with more than 10,000 members. Our national website is SNAPnetwork.org