HARTFORD (CT)
Hartford Courant
October 1, 2019
By Dave Altimari and Amanda Blanco
A scathing report released Tuesday by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport on the alleged sexual abuse of hundreds of victims by clergy since the early 1950s blames former bishops Edward Egan and Walter Curtis for violating state law and failing to respond to “an unfolding crisis.”
Despite hundreds of victims, church leaders knew of abuse since 1953 and were more concerned about protecting assets and avoiding “scandalous news articles” than protecting children and removing priests, the report found. The report, compiled by former state Superior Court Judge Robert Holzberg, stated that Egan took a “dismissive, uncaring, and at times threatening attitude toward survivors.”
“Bishops Curtis and Egan failed even to acknowledge, let alone comply with, their legal obligations arising from the 1971 state law mandating that priests report allegations of child sexual abuse,” the report states. Egan’s behavior “was profoundly unsympathetic, inadequate, and inflammatory.”
The report states that nearly 300 people were allegedly abused by approximately 71 priests. A small number of priests were responsible for much of the abuse. Holzberg said investigators have not identified any reports of abuse since 2008. Investigators interviewed more than 50 witnesses, survivors of clergy sexual abuse, current and former bishops, priests, lawyers and others.
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