ROCHESTER (NY)
WHEC - NBC News10 [Rochester NY]
August 22, 2024
By Antonina Tortorello
Survivors of childhood sexual abuse are frustrated that the Catholic Diocese of Rochester’s bankruptcy case is still unresolved.
Carol Dupre was 15 when her parish priest, who was forty years older, started abusing her. She says she told her mother. But when she complained to the church, no one believed her, and nothing was done.
Carol is one of hundreds to file a claim against the Catholic Diocese of Rochester when the state enacted the Adult Survivors Act. That extended the statute of limitations for sex crimes and gave adult survivors two years to file lawsuits.
The Diocese filed for bankruptcy protection after that, and insurance companies and the diocese have been hashing out what each will pay to survivors.
Now 77, Carol says she’s only worn black for the last three years as a sign of mourning while she waits for resolution.
“I have a white dress and that I will be put on when this is over. So, I just stick to the black. I have a little jacket on right now, but I’m wearing a black dress. I don’t know. It’s silly. My friends think it’s silly, but I have I just say to them, ‘Hey, this is empowering right now,’” Carol shares.
Dupre says the fight isn’t about money, it’s for acknowledgement of what happened to her and so many others.
Some survivors tell News10NBC they’re worried they may not live long enough to get justice.
News10NBC’s Antonina Tortorello reached out to the Diocese of Rochester for an interview. Instead, a spokesman gave her a statement that reads:
“It is still a matter before the court and we pray for a just resolution, especially to ease the pain and suffering of the survivors, who have endured this very painful ordeal now approaching five years.”