Judge Will Not Release Depositions on Church Abuse

WISN
April 5, 2012

http://www.wisn.com/news/30842116/detail.html

A federal judge in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy case said she won't order the public release of depositions in which top-ranking church officials discuss how decades-old allegations of child sexual abuse were handled.

The depositions were taken in recent months in connection with the bankruptcy filing.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan Kelley ruled Thursday that the depositions were intended to serve specific purposes, and those purposes have already been achieved.

She said making them public now could enable others to piece together the identity of sexual-assault survivors who want to remain anonymous.

Catholic clergy sex abuse victim Mike Sneesby stood outside Milwaukee's federal courthouse disappointed.

He wants all court documents in the Milwaukee archdiocese bankruptcy claim made public he said to expose whether the church tried to hide abuse:

"It doesn't go away. You live your whole life with this. And for them not be honest with us and atone for the sins that they have made is wrong," Sneesby said.

Peter Isely with Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said the ruling denies the archdiocese the shame it deserves for not doing enough to ferret out abusive priests. He is promising to circulate a petition urging release of court documents.

"The shame that needs to be experienced by the leaders of the archdiocese for covering up these child sex crimes is not going to happen today," Isely said.

Attorneys for some 350 clergy sex abuse victims said the documents that will remain sealed include the testimony of former Archbishop Rembert Weakland about what he knew, when he knew it and how he responded to it.

Archdiocese attorneys argued making the documents public would slow down resolution of the bankruptcy case.