Next month marks the one-year anniversary of Syracuse Bishop Doug Lucia filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on behalf of the Diocese of Syracuse..
Days before the move, at least 38 people filed new sex abuse and cover up lawsuits under the New York Child Victims Act. Now, roughly a year later, some 400 individuals in the Syracuse area have sought justice by filing claims in the bankruptcy court. We commend them for their courage.
Any way you look at it, that's a staggering number of child sexual abuse victims. But it's especially staggering when you consider how little the diocese has disclosed about abuse.
Syracuse Bishop Doug Lucia issued a "credibly accused" list that has many of the same omissions and deceptions found in other bishops' lists, including
-No work histories of the predators.
-No photos of the predators.
-No nuns, brothers, bishops, seminarians, monks, or deacons or lay employees (like teachers or counselors) are identified as molesters.
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/diocesan_lists/Syracuse/2018_12_03_Syracuse_List.pdf
One can only imagine how many more victims might have come forward over the last 12 months if Lucia and his colleagues actually practiced the 'transparency' that they so often claim they show.
On his site, Syracuse Bishop Doug Lucia also uses perhaps the most insulting word to describe abuse reports: 'claims.'
Not cases. Not reports. Not disclosures. But 'claims.'
(We're attorneys. We realize that in bankruptcy, 'claims' is the legally appropriate term to use. That doesn't mean, however, that Lucia has to use it on his website. He could just as easily say 'abuse reports' or 'abuse disclosures.')
And of course, with minimal effort, we at Horowitz Law have found several 'credibly accused' abusive clerics who spent time in the Syracuse diocese but are NOT on Lucia's list. Three of them belonged to just one religious order, the Jesuits:
-Fr. Peter Conroy, who led retreats in Syracuse
-Fr. Roy Drake, who was at LeMoyne College in Syracuse
-Fr. Raymond Fullam, also led retreats in Syracuse
Also omitted:
-Fr. Henry Clark, who is on the Albuquerque diocese 'credibly accused' list and worked in both Syracuse and Utica.
-Fr. John Lugowski, who spent time behind bars for sodomizing a ten year old New York boy and admitted to sexual contact with five boys.
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2007/05_06/2007_05_05_Moyer_SexAbuse.htm
Like most Catholic bishops who exploit Chapter 11 to keep church cover ups covered up, Lucia claims he's not trying to hide anything.
But if that's the case, why is he hiding names and information about proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics?
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Syracuse in New York. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in New York and nationwide. We can help.