SEATTLE (WA)
Office of the Attorney General, Washington State
July 12, 2024
Attorney General Bob Ferguson offers the following statement in response to the King County Superior Court denying a request to enforce his office’s subpoena against the Seattle Archdiocese in his Catholic Church investigation:
“Our fight for survivors of clergy abuse is not over,” Ferguson said. “We plan to immediately appeal this decision because Washingtonians deserve a full public accounting of the Church’s involvement in and responsibility for the child sexual abuse crisis. As a Catholic, I believe in justice for survivors and I am disappointed by the Church’s lack of transparency. We will do everything we can to uncover the truth and bring a voice to survivors.”
In May, Ferguson announced his office is investigating whether three Washington dioceses of the Catholic Church used charitable funds to cover up alleged child sex abuse by clergy.
The Attorney General’s Office sent subpoenas to the Seattle Archdiocese, the Dioceses of Spokane and the Diocese of Yakima. The Seattle Archdiocese refused to cooperate, producing only a small number of documents that are already publicly available. In response, Ferguson filed a petition in King County Superior Court to enforce the subpoena. The office has not yet taken action against the Spokane and Yakima dioceses, but is prepared to do so if necessary.
The Attorney General’s Office has authority under the Charitable Trusts Act to investigate organizations’ use of charitable funds.
The three Catholic dioceses in Washington are organized as a special type of corporation under Washington law — a “corporation sole” — that holds assets in trust for religious and charitable purposes. The Attorney General’s investigation is aimed at uncovering whether these charitable funds were used to conceal or facilitate the sexual abuse of Washingtonians.
There is reason to believe that the Seattle Archdiocese knew about certain priests’ abusive behavior, but used its resources to protect and support the abusers instead of their victims. For example, publicly available information indicates that the Seattle Archdiocese knew for decades that Father Michael J. Cody repeatedly sexually abused children, but it allowed him to stay in positions of power and moved him to different parishes periodically to hide his predations, giving him access to new victims while continuing to support him financially.
The Catholic Church has in recent years made a number of reports about clergy sexual abuse, including publicizing the names of current and former priests that it determined to have been “credibly” accused of sexual abuse. The “credibility” of these claims is determined by the church itself.
When state attorneys general have conducted their own investigations, some have found a dramatically greater number of credible allegations.
Including Washington, 23 state attorneys general have announced investigations into the Catholic Church – 27 have not. In the past five years, six states have produced reports detailing their findings. Many investigations are ongoing.
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Washington’s Attorney General serves the people and the state of Washington. As the state’s largest law firm, the Attorney General’s Office provides legal representation to every state agency, board, and commission in Washington. Additionally, the Office serves the people directly by enforcing consumer protection, civil rights, and environmental protection laws. The Office also prosecutes elder abuse, Medicaid fraud, and handles sexually violent predator cases in 38 of Washington’s 39 counties. Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.
Media Contact:
Brionna Aho, Communications Director, (360) 753-2727; Brionna.aho@atg.wa.gov
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