MILWAUKEE (WI)
WTMJ
[with video]
By Steve Chamraz
MILWAUKEE — Details buried in thousands of pages of once-secret church files do not come as a surprise to John Pilmaier.
Rather, they reinforce the things Pilmaier came to believe about the Archdiocese of Milwaukee after he come forward as a victim of sexual abuse.
“For a faith institution to lie to the people they’ve hurt the most is really atrocious,” Pilmaier said in an interview Monday evening. “The documents are, really, as close to the truth as we are ever gonna get.”
Pilmaier was one of nearly 20 boys abused by Father David Hanser. As the documents in Hanser’s file show, it was abuse documented by the Archdiocese over decades.
The file also documents how church leaders continued to let Hanser move from position to position — even after abuse came to light.
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