BOULDER (CO)
Daily Camera
March 23, 2019
The Colorado attorney general and Catholic Church last month announced an agreement that established an inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse of children by clergy. This is Colorado’s contribution to a broader search for truth that’s occurring in states across the country. In some states, law enforcement officials are aggressively pursuing relevant information, but that’s not happening in Colorado. In fact, the terms of the agreement are so favorable to the church and so incommensurate to the gravity of crimes uncovered in numerous other dioceses that it’s doubtful to result in an honest account of abuses that took place in Colorado.
The agreement between Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and the state’s three archdioceses sets up an “independent review” conducted by a so-called special master, a position that was assigned to former Colorado U.S. Attorney Robert Troyer. Troyer is charged with reviewing diocesan files and records, which the church has agreed to make available for the review, and he’s supposed to complete by Oct. 1 a report that describes substantiated allegations of abuse.
The shortcomings of the arrangement are numerous.
First, the “independent review” is not altogether independent. In the language of the agreement itself the review was established “in the spirit of compromise and cooperation.” That’s the opposite of independent. Troyer will be required to meet with church representatives at least once a month to update them on his progress. Before he issues his final report, Troyer must submit a draft of the document to the church, whose officials will have the opportunity to suggest changes. An investigatory entity that consults with the subject of its investigation and grants the subject influence over findings cannot claim impartiality.
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