CHILD-MOLESTING Victim Prompted Syracuse Diocese's Cooperation with DAS

By John O'Brien
Syracuse.com
October 28, 2015

http://www.syracuse.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/10/syracuse_dioceses_cooperation_with_das_was_prompted_by_a_single_survivors_story.html

Syracuse.jpg Syracuse Roman Catholic Diocese Bishop Robert Cunningham, on left, listens as Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick talks at a news conference Oct. 28, 2015 in Binghamton, N.Y. On the right is Oswego County District Attorney Greg Oakes. The diocese reached an agreement with seven district attorneys in Central New York to immediately notify them if they suspect a priest or diocese official of sexually abusing a child. (John O'Brien | jobrien@syracuse.com)

A man who says he survived child-molesting at the hands of a priest prompted prosecutors to ask the Catholic Diocese of Syracuse to turn over all cases of suspected pedophile clergy.

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick revealed today that his office heard from the survivor about a year ago, leading to today's announcement about a new written agreement between the diocese and seven district attorneys.

Bishop Robert Cunningham and the seven district attorneys in the diocese announced at a news conference that the diocese signed an agreement to report all accusations of pedophile priests to the prosecutors.

The survivor contacted Fitzpatrick's office from another state about a year ago.

"After dialogue with him, I contacted my colleagues," Fitzpatrick said, referring to the other DAs. "We began the process of discussing this with the diocese as to how we could formalize some of the agreements that we have had verbally discussed in the past."

Fitzpatrick said he couldn't release the name of the survivor without that man's permission.

But Kevin Braney said he's the survivor Fitzpatrick was referring to. An assistant prosecutor confirmed that to Braney in a phone call after the news conference, Braney said.

Braney, of Colorado, said he was molested by Monsignor Charles Eckermann when Braney was a teenager. The diocese defrocked Eckermann last year after finding the allegations were credible.

"Good for them," Braney said of the agreement between the diocese and the seven DAs. "I'm glad they're moving forward. But there are underlying issues that need to be addressed and are not being addressed."

Among them is Cunningham's refusal to publicly identify the 11 priests living in the diocese against whom credible allegations of child-molesting have been found, Braney said.

Cunningham hailed today's announced agreement as "a good news story."

"This is truly in the spirit of cooperation, and guided by one principal -- to deal with this issue effectively, and justly, and most importantly to make every effort to ensure that no child is harmed," the bishop said.

The signed agreement was not prompted by recent revelations that Cunningham in 2011 had said in a court deposition that the victims of child-molesting priests were partly to blame, he said.

But he took a moment at the news conference to address that issue.

"It's no secret that there are people who are unhappy with me and with the diocese of Syracuse," Cunningham said. "Let me be clear and state again, on the record: I do not believe, nor have I ever believed, a child is responsible for being abused. A priest or any other adult who abuses a child is wrong. I apologize if my words have caused pain to victims of sexual abuse."

It was the first time Cunningham publicly apologized for what he said in the deposition.

The two-page agreement "essentially makes the diocese of Syracuse a mandatory reporter for any potential sexual abuse," Fitzpatrick said.

"This is a huge step forward," he said. "It's something the probably should be copied throughout the state."

There are other dioceses in the state and elsewhere in the country that have similar written agreements, said Fitzpatrick, who's president of the National District Attorneys Association.

The "memorandum of understanding" comes 13 years after the diocese adopted a policy of handling child-molesting allegations that did not include a requirement that police or prosecutors be notified. At the time, in 2002, Broome County District Attorney Gerald Mollen expressed concern about the lack of that reporting requirement.

Mollen, at Fitzpatrick's request, took the lead among the local DAs in making the recent change.

In 2002, Fitzpatrick said he trusted the diocese and bishop, and had no concerns that there was no requirement that police and prosecutors be notified of child-molesting accusations.

"Obviously, when I said those words 12 or 13 years ago I believed them to be true," Fitzpatrick said. "I think that this agreement today is a very good improvement."

The diocese has turned over all cases to the DAs of child-molesting allegations against living priests or other religious workers, Cunningham said.

"As I stand here today, I can tell you that there is no potential offender who is presenting any danger to any child in Central New York," Fitzpatrick said. "The bishop was very concerned about that when we talked about it."