Is the church abuse crisis over? Let's look at a few of last week's headlines in the news regarding the church's abuse crisis. The following cases or headlines are all from LAST WEEK:
- A Kansas City, Missouri, deacon was suspended after he was sued for alleged abuse. The deacon is Ralph Wehner, who also spent time in St. Louis.
- A Columbus, Ohio, Catholic school 'safe environment coordinator' was arrested on child pornography charges. The coordinator is John Denzel of Dublin.
- A priest was extradited from Ave Maria, Florida, to Texas to face charges that he sexually abused as many as eight women. Fr. Anthony Odiong, who also "allegedly managed to pressure a woman into letting her husband sodomize her despite her faith-based objections to that kind of encounter - while also successfully urging her to relay her experience to him." Fr. Odiong also spent time in Waco and the New Orleans Archdioceses.
This is just a small sampling of some of the worst instances. And let's remember the second half of the crisis-not the actual crimes themselves but the almost inevitable cover-ups, which continue to happen as well.
Last week, we saw more evidence that the church hierarchy is still working overtime to make sure that abuse by its clergy is kept under wraps and especially kept out of the courts.
- An Ohio pastor resigned from his post after he admitted telling a parish employee to destroy evidence of a fellow priest's possession of pornographic images, "including material that possibly involved the sexual abuse of children." He's Fr. Barry Stechschulte of Mason, who ordered Deacon Martin Brown to destroy a computer hard drive containing pornographic images that had been used by the previous pastor, Father Anthony Cutcher. Brown used a blow torch to wipe out the device.
- A Massachusetts legislator said that Catholic officials successfully blocked his effort to "eliminate a cap on liability in child sexual abuse cases," which "makes it difficult for abuse survivors to get a lawyer to take their case" and "prevents meaningful reparations for survivors who often face lifelong impacts on employment and relationships."
- A Catholic businessman playing a key role in the New Orleans Archdiocesan bankruptcy "testified to essentially negotiating in bad faith during mediation sessions meant to help the church reach a legal settlement with abuse survivors (and) described reflexively contradicting survivors' attorneys even when he couldn't think of a reason - a posture that is only adding to the costs and delays." He's Lee Eagan who, according to a headline - and a fascinating but disturbing story - in the Guardian, "lacked prior experience, failed to familiarize himself with rules and suffered cognitive decline as case expenses soar to $40 million."
For more on scandals in the largest Catholic entity in Louisiana, see the links below:
- https://www.adamhorowitzlaw.com/blog/2023/08/an-odd-claim-by-new-orleans-archbishop-aymond/
- https://www.adamhorowitzlaw.com/blog/2023/10/prepared-to-be-shocked-by-new-orleans-church-officials/
Can we ask you a big favor, please? The next time you hear someone say or imply that the Catholic abuse and cover-up crisis is mostly over (and Catholic officials say or suggest this all the time.), please share this article with them. We at Horowitz Law aren't sure how Catholics, if they see and think about these developments - again, over just one week - can stay silent in the face of this callousness, recklessness, and deceit by the men running their church. And if some church defender says something like, "Well, the Catholic church is a huge institution. There'll always be a few 'bad apples," please issue them this challenge: Find another institution - business, non-profit or religious - with as many child sex scandals in a random seven-day span. . ." They won't be able to do so.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by religious authority figures and other clergy. If you need a lawyer because a member of a religious organization sexually abused you, contact us today at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse nationwide. We can help.