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	Priest Sex Abuse Aid Program Will End By Ariel Zangla Daily Freeman [New York] September 18, 2006 http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17210508&BRD=1769&PAG=461&dept_id=74969&rfi=6 The Independent Mediation Assistance Program, which was established to assist the victims of sexual abuse by priests, is preparing to end its operations by late November. The Independent Mediation Assistance Program was started in December 2004 and has provided assistance to 31 individuals who, as minors, were sexually abused by clergy of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese, according to a joint press release from the diocese and mediation program. The program, designed and administered by retired Court of Appeals Judge Howard Levine, was initially intended to operate for one year, but was extended several times, the release said. The release said the Independent Mediation Assistance Program, or IMAP, is preparing to conclude its work because inquiries by potential participants have dropped to nearly zero in recent months. Levine said last week that he was hopeful IMAP can finish its outstanding cases by the proposed end date of Nov. 27. He said if there are still cases that need to be addressed or if other potential victims have come forward before that time, IMAP will continue to serve them. The deadline for new applications is Oct. 25. "I'm hopeful that with a new deadline for making claims that more people come forward now that they see the opportunity won't be there forever," Levine said. He said IMAP will do its best to process those claims through to their conclusions. Attorney John Aretakis, whose client the Rev. Mark Jaufmann is using IMAP, said he represents 125 clients in Albany alone and only three have chosen to use the mediation program. He said he was recently told it will take the IMAP investigator looking into Jaufmann's case between 12 and 14 weeks to get a response to his Freedom of Information Law request from the Los Angeles, Calif., Police. Jaufmann, a priest with the Ecumenical Catholic Communion in California, said he was sexually abused as a child by a Greene County priest. He said he was abused by the Rev. Jeremiah Nunan while he was a parishioner at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Hudson. Most recently, Nunan had been serving as a Roman Catholic priest at Sacred Heart Parish in Cairo and Our Lady of Knock Mission in East Durham. He took a leave of absence in February. Neither Jaufmann, whose case is still being investigated, nor Nunan could be reached for comment. "The program is and was a failure," Aretakis said. He said it has not removed predators from their positions in the clergy and is not independent from the diocese. Levine said he has operated independently from the diocese and does not take direction from it. He said IMAP is offering a mediation service with the hope it will enable victims and representatives of the diocese to meet so that amends can be made. Levine said he does not dictate what the diocese offers for amends and the fact that the diocese pays for the program should not matter. "What I'm striving for is to provide a non-litigation forum for those victims who don't want to litigate, or feel they can't litigate," Levine said. He said IMAP is designed to help victims get some satisfaction and closure. Levine said IMAP is closing down because the expense of the program does not make sense when there are no victims coming forward. He also said the program did not receive the volume of claims that were originally anticipated and so did not spend the $5 million that was allocated for services by the diocese. In the press release, the diocese said it will continue to provide assistance to victims of clergy sexual abuse and will continue to work with the non-profit New York State Dispute Resolution Association when an individual requests independent mediation services.
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