Joliet Diocese settles priest abuse claims for more than $4 million

By Christy Gutowski
Chicago Tribune
April 15, 2015

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/joliet-romeoville/news/ct-joliet-diocese-priest-settlement-met-20150414-story.html

Logo of the Joliet diocese

The Diocese of Joliet agreed to pay a $4.14 million settlement to 14 men who said their childhood priests molested them decades ago while assigned to various suburban churches, plaintiff attorneys announced Tuesday.The five priests involved in the settlement were previously identified by the diocese as having had at least one substantiated allegation of sexual abuse. But the settlement revealed new allegations with more victims.

Four of the 14 men had filed a lawsuit, while the others were part of out-of-court negotiations. The alleged acts occurred in the 1960s through the 1980s.

One of the newly named victims, Steve Janik, a consultant from Wheaton, said he was repeatedly abused by Rev. James Nowak during a three-year period beginning in the 1960s when he was 12 years old and attended Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Lombard.

Nowak, 77, who is retired, also served at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Naperville. Janik, 61, said he reported his abuse in summer 2012 after he read an article about another man who came forward with similar allegations.

"If I give that power to another person, I think I've done a good thing," Janik told the Tribune.

The men allege the diocese allowed known or suspected pedophile priests to have access to young boys who were allegedly abused on church retreats and even in the back row of a school classroom. One boy was told to strip out of his clothes and wear a loincloth so the priest could practice giving funeral rites, according to court records.

Besides Nowak, the priests named in the settlement are Michael Gibbney, Lawrence Gibbs, Myles White and Fred Lenczycki. None of them are involved in active ministry. Lenczycki and White served short stints in prison for sex crimes against children. White died in 2012.

Their accusers attended St. Boniface Catholic Church in Monee, St. Charles Borremeo Seminary in Joliet, St. Dominic Catholic Church in Bolingbrook, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Bolingbrook, St. Mary Nativity School in Joliet and Sacred Heart.

"The truth was buried for a long, long time," attorney Mark McKenna said in a statement announcing the settlement.

The Chicago law firm has planned a Thursday news conference. Janik said he will attend.

A diocese spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. As part of an earlier, unrelated settlement, the diocese in March 2013 released the internal personnel files of 16 priests with credible or substantiated allegations. The files of Nowak and White have not yet been made public.