COLUMBUS (OH)
The Columbus Dispatch
March 9, 2019
By Danae King and Marty Schladen
Sixteen years after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus formed a review board to advise the bishop on allegations against priests of child sexual abuse, it released a list of priests that it has deemed “credibly accused.”
But the options for victims of these priests to seek justice are limited.
Systems such as those within the Diocese of Columbus in place to exact justice for victims of childhood priest sexual abuse and in the broader legal system often are stacked against adult survivors, advocates say.
Within the church, their accusations are judged by colleagues or superiors of the priest the victims are accusing; a victim’s advocate who is also high-ranking clergy; and a board made up almost entirely of parishioners.
Outside the church, the Ohio legislature has so far rejected changes in laws that limit damages awarded to victims in civil cases, and prevent civil cases and criminal charges because of a statute of limitations.
“The church is the richest institution in the world, and with that money they buy influence and power,” said Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who has made a career out of representing victims of clergy sexual abuse and was made famous by the 2015 movie “Spotlight.”
The Columbus diocese list, released March 1, named 34 clergy members and said the most recent credible claim of abuse happened in 1992. Though it took six months longer for it to release the list than it did the five other Ohio dioceses, Columbus added two more names March 5, making the total 36. Twenty-two of them are dead and the rest have been removed from ministry, according to the diocese.
The release of the list has brought added attention to the Columbus diocese, which did not see major repercussions after the 2002 Boston Globe investigation that forced other dioceses and archdioceses nationwide to open their files, face courts and offer justice to victims.
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