MILWAUKEE (WI)
WISN 12 - ABC [Milwaukee WI]
October 3, 2024
By Mariana La Roche
A Wisconsin judge has denied the Attorney General’s request to unseal abuse records, citing confidentiality concerns for survivors.
A Wisconsin judge denied Attorney General Josh Kaul’s request to unseal abuse records in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, originally filed over 13 years ago.
The Department of Justice in Wisconsin requested access to sealed records of abuse survivors as part of the Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse Initiative, launched in 2021. This initiative aims to conduct a thorough review of historical clergy abuse incidents in Wisconsin.
However, Chief Bankruptcy Judge G. Michael Halfenger ruled against reopening the case, which was closed in 2016.
Halfenger ruled that the attorney general’s request was improper and unrelated to the bankruptcy case. The judge determined that the state’s request lacked sufficient justification and posed significant risks to the confidentiality of 550 abuse survivors who participated in the bankruptcy proceedings with the expectation of privacy.
Attorney Frank LoCoco, representing the Archdiocese, expressed relief at the decision, emphasizing the distress that a breach of confidentiality could cause to survivors who view the case as resolved and their claims as permanently sealed. “We are thankful for Judge Halfenger’s ruling because a breach of confidentiality like that would have been devastating.”
According to a release from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, the archdiocese is committed to “any investigation related to potential criminal conduct involving sexual abuse of a minor related to any living archdiocesan priest.”
“To date, the attorney general’s initiative has failed to lead to a single legal inquiry regarding any living priest who remains in ministry within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee,” the release states.