Sex Abuse Allegations in Bankruptcy Case Reveal No Safety Crisis, Judge Says

By Annysa Johnson
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
February 29, 2012

http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/sex-abuse-allegations-in-bankruptcy-case-reveal-no-safety-crisis-judge-says-184copn-140911043.html

The Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which faces more than a dozen civil fraud lawsuits over its handling of clergy sex abuse cases, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January. As the case proceeds, we'll have updates, analysis, documents and more.

Most allegations were committed by priests already identified as abusers

The judge in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy case said Wednesday that she sees no current child safety crisis in the 550-plus sex-abuse claims filed in the case, suggesting that claims to the contrary - by victims' advocates and lawmakers - distort statements made by attorneys in a Feb. 9 hearing.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley said most of the allegations raised in the claims were committed by 44 diocesan priests already identified as abusers on the archdiocese website, many of whom are dead.

"My review has not indicated one iota of a public safety crisis to be concerned about in those proofs of claims," Kelley said during a hearing Wednesday. "Absolutely none, and I've looked at every one."

She admonished lawyers on both sides to return to the business of bankruptcy, calling it "primarily financial."

"The rest of this is a distraction, people with agendas that don't match ours," said Kelley. "Our agenda is to get valid claims paid as soon as we can through a (reorganization) plan. . . . We're not here to humiliate people, or bring up matters from the 1950s."

Archdiocese spokesman Jerry Topczewski welcomed Kelley's remarks.

"This confirms what we have said all along, that these date back decades and that any new accusations are turned over to prosecutors," he said. "The judge made the point better than we could ourselves. Our intent was to reassure our people, and she has done that."

On Wednesday, Kelley declined a request by the archdiocese to release statistical information about sealed claims as a way to allay fears of a crisis.

The request grew out of a Feb. 9 hearing at which victims' attorneys Jeffrey Anderson and Michael Finnegan said the claims of their 350 clients alone detail more than 8,000 acts of sexual abuse and name 100 alleged abusers - 75 of them priests - who have not been publicly identified by the archdiocese.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and nine Democratic lawmakers responded by calling the numbers a potential public safety crisis and asking Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to investigate. Peter Isely of SNAP reiterated that call Wednesday.

The attorney general's office issued a statement Wednesday saying that it takes the issue seriously but does not comment on whether investigations are taking place.

The archdiocese has said the numbers put out by Anderson and Finnegan are misleading. Since the hearing, it has been inundated with calls from concerned parents about the safety of their children.

Wednesday's motion had sought some leeway in an order Kelley signed to protect the identities of victims and certain alleged offenders so the archdiocese could make public enough statistical information to at least refute the claims of any crisis.

Kelley denied the request, saying it could open the door to greater disclosure, compromising the proceedings. But she made clear she considered talk of a potential crisis off the mark.

The judge has yet to rule on a broader request by Anderson to unseal claims - except for identifying information about victims and certain alleged perpetrators - along with depositions of retired bishops and a defrocked priest, as well as numerous other documents.