|
Gallup Diocese mum about AG’s mandate
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Gallup Independent correspondent
religion@gallupindependent.com
October 6, 2018
GALLUP — The New Mexico Attorney General’s deadline for the Diocese of Gallup to turn over thousands of pages of documents related to clergy sex abuse came and went Friday, but neither the AG’s Office nor officials with the Gallup Diocese confirmed if the diocese met that deadline.
On Sept. 4, Attorney General Hector Balderas sent a demand letter to all three Catholic dioceses in New Mexico requesting a broad scope of documents and other information concerning clergy sex abuse from 1950 through Sept. 1, 2018. All the requested information was due Oct. 5.
Suzanne Hammons, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of Gallup, was contacted Friday and asked if the Gallup Diocese would have all the requested information submitted by the deadline.
“A response to the request from the Attorney General will be submitted later today from our Diocesan attorneys at the offices of Mason and Isaacson,” Hammons said in an emailed reply. “I’ll send you a link to our public statement when it is posted.”
No such public statement was provided by Hammons or the Diocese of Gallup by Friday evening.
A statement by David Carl, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, didn’t shed much more light on the question. Carl was asked if the three Catholic dioceses had been submitting the requesting information thus far.
“The NMOAG has met with all three diocese and have begun making arrangements for production,” Carl said in an email Friday.
New Mexico hotline
Balderas is one of about a dozen attorney generals in the United States conducting an investigation into clergy sex abuse. These investigations were launched after Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro conducted a two-year investigation into clergy sex abuse in six Catholic dioceses, which was followed by the release of a grand jury report.
Shapiro also opened a sex abuse hotline when the grand jury report was released. Shapiro has said the hotline has received over 1,200 phone calls thus far.
According to Carl, the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office has also opened a hotline for survivors of clergy sex abuse: 505-717-3512.
“All calls received will be appropriately handled by victim advocates and agents,” Carl said, adding abuse survivors can also contact the AG’s Office by email (kcarmona@nmag. gov) or regular mail at P.O. Drawer 1508, Santa Fe NM 87504.
Carl was asked if abuse survivors from the Diocese of Gallup who were sexually abused in Arizona could contact the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office. He was also asked if Native American abuse survivors who were sexually abused on federally-protected Indian reservations could also report their abuse to the AG’s Office.
“As the Attorney General’s priority is to seek justice for survivors of clergy sexual assault, should we identify any instances of sexual abuse that fall outside the jurisdiction of the NMOAG, we will work with all law enforcement partners to ensure a full review of those matters,” Carl said.
Federal investigation
Less than three weeks after Balderas sent his demand letter, U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson for the District of New Mexico, along with officials from the FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, held a news conference in Albuquerque, announcing that former Catholic priest Arthur Perrault had been extradited from Morocco to the United States to face federal child sexual abuse charges in New Mexico.
The indictment alleges that Perrault, a former priest in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, had repeatedly sexually abused a minor victim while on federally-protected land in New Mexico.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI announced that information about other conduct by Perrault could be reported through email at usanm-priest@usdoj.gov or by phone at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).
On Wednesday, the Gallup Independent contacted both the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI, asking if other clergy sex abuse survivors, particularly Native American survivors, who had been abused on federally- protected land, could report their abuse through that email or phone number.
On Friday, FBI spokesman Frank Fisher said the U.S. Attorney’s Office was working to answer the Independent. However, no response came from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Information: NM Attorney General’s hotline, 505-717-3512
|