BALTIMORE (MD)
The Daily Record [Baltimore MD]
August 22, 2024
By Ian Round
[The following is a partial text of the original article.]
Weeks before the Maryland Supreme Court hears arguments over the Child Victims Act, a man from a prominent local Catholic family on Wednesday sued the seminary that he says allowed him to be sexually abused for years.
Tom Finnerty, 61, sued St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore City Circuit Court on Wednesday, saying the institution was a “haven and breeding ground for pedophilia” that turned a blind eye as John Banko abused him from when he was about 6 years old until he was 15.
“It took me a long time to get here,” Finnerty said at a press conference on Thursday. “It has affected me my whole life. It affects me every day . . . They did nothing to protect me.”
Finnerty’s lawsuit comes less than three weeks before the state’s high court considers whether the 2023 Child Victims Act, which ended the deadline for people to sue the institutions that enabled abusers, is constitutional. The CVA became law days after a report by the state attorney general about abuse in the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore — a report that details Banko’s conduct, decades after Finnerty originally reported him.
But Finnerty, who is represented by Michael Belsky and Catherine Dickinson, partners at SBWD Law, can’t sue the Baltimore archdiocese, because it declared bankruptcy in order to limit its liability, anticipating hundreds of decades-old claims…
… that it was important to get the complaint on the record in case the court strikes down the law.
“We wanted to make sure this case got filed,” Belsky said.
Finnerty is also suing the Associated Sulpicians, which owns and operates the seminary. He accuses the defendants of negligence and gross negligence, among other counts, and is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Finnerty’s grandfather was a city judge, and his father was a founding partner of the firm now known as Gallagher, Evelius and Jones, which often represented the Catholic Church. According to the civil complaint, his family had gone to St. Mary’s in search of a religious tutor for their son when he was in the first or second grade in the early 1970s. Roland Park-based St. Mary’s — the nation’s oldest Roman Catholic seminary — connected them with Banko, who began abusing Finnerty almost immediately. The abuse continued roughly twice a month for nearly a decade, Finnerty alleges.
“Banko would often ply Mr. Finnerty with alcohol prior to abusing him, using his Seminary and/or priest credentials to persuade servers to serve the underage Mr. Finnerty,” the complaint states.
“Banko’s abuse continued beyond his ordination until Mr. Finnerty was fifteen (15) years old and was strong enough to defend himself from his abuser,” it states. “During one of their last interactions, Banko took Mr. Finnerty to a bar and attempted to touch his leg. Mr. Finnerty told Banko to ‘get the f*** off’ him.
This interaction was Banko’s final attempt to abuse Mr. Finnerty.”
Banko was later convicted in New Jersey and spent years in prison. He died in 2016.
Finnerty, who now lives in Baltimore County and owns an antique store in Hampden with his wife, Wesley Finnerty, for years used drugs and alcohol to manage depression, anxiety and low self esteem caused by his experience. He failed out of college four times before eventually becoming sober and graduating from Loyola College.
“There was no way I could have come out sooner,” Finnerty said Thursday. “I’m just worried that other people won’t have an outlet, or won’t have the opportunity to tell their stories when they’re ready.”