Some Priests are Missing from Vermont 's accused' abusers list. One reportedly tried to molest and drown a child. Another, a nun, allegedly abused at an orphanage. A handful were 'outed' by Catholic officials elsewhere. All of them are or were in Vermont. But none of them are on the official Vermont diocesan list of 'credibly accused' abusers. Why? The only person who can answer that question is also the person who is solely responsible for creating and posting that list of 'credibly accused' abusers: Burlington Bishop John J. McDermott.
Among the 'missing' names in Burlington, VT:
- Fr. Roger W. Carlin: Earlier this year, a civil child sex abuse lawsuit was settled involving him. The case attracted public attention in 2021 when it was filed. Fr. Carlin reportedly sexually abused a nine-year-old altar at St. John Vianney Parish in South Burlington. So McDermott pays an accuser a settlement but doesn't find them 'credible?'
- Fr. Charles J. Charron: Originally from Canada, he belonged to a religious order known as the Servants of the Paraclete and spent time at their seminary, the Burlington diocese. He's on the Santa Fe Archdiocese's list of 'credibly accused' abusers. So a New Mexico archbishop says Fr. Charron is an abuser, but that's not good enough for Bishop McDermott?
- Fr. Bruce T. Favreau: In 2018, the Ogdensburg, NY diocese named him publicly as a 'credibly accused' abuser. He then spent the rest of his life in Burlington, VT. So again, a brother bishop discloses, 'This guy's a predator,' but Vermont's bishop disagrees or doesn't care?
Then there are the Edmundites. They're an Alabama-based religious order that also sent clergy to work in Vermont. In 2019, Edmundite officials admitted that abuse allegations against four of their members have been 'substantiated.' One of them is Fr. John A. Stankiewicz, who was at St. Michael's College outside of Burlington. Another is Fr. Nelson B. Ziter, who worked in three Alabama towns (Belle Fontaine, Selma, and Mobile), two Vermont towns (Swanton and Williston), and St. Michael's College. A third is Fr. Paul A. Pinard, who worked in four Vermont towns (and in Connecticut, Alabama, and Canada).
Abuse reports against all three of these men have been deemed 'substantiated.' Yet none of them appear on the Burlington diocesan 'credibly accused' abusers list. In all fairness, not all cases of alleged clergy abuse are so clear-cut. Sometimes, church officials say that they cannot 'substantiate' an abuse report. What to do in these situations? Here's one simple compromise.
Several bishops (Providence, Rhode Island, for example) post names of 'PUBLICLY ACCUSED' clerics whose names have already been exposed in the public realm, but it's not clear whether the allegations against them are 'credible.'
In our view at Horowitz Law, that's a step towards real transparency. Couldn't Bishop McDermott do this with the alleged Edmundite predators named below? They have been publicly accused of abuse, but their order can't or won't say the allegations are 'credible.'
NOTE: Though his religious superiors say the abuse report against Fr. Lanoue is 'unsubstantiated, a civil lawsuit against him charges that he admitted abusing a child in the presence of the child's father and St. Michael's college president. Rev. Francis Moriarity.
Finally, if Bishop McDermott DID post a list of publicly accused Vermont child molesting clerics ('publicly accused,' not necessarily 'credibly accused'), he could include these individuals:
- Sister Claire was accused in a civil lawsuit of abusing a girl at St. Joseph's Orphanage.
- Fr. James Dunn was named in a civil lawsuit as an abuser. Church records seem to indicate that he'd been sent to a church 'treatment' center for 'troubled' clerics run by the Servants of the Paraclete. His name seems to have disappeared from the Official Catholic Directory after 1969.
- Bishop Louis E. Gelineau was accused of taking an 11- or 12-year-old boy at St. Joseph's Orphanage in Burlington, VT, off by himself and trying to abuse and drown him.
- Fr. John Milanese kept working in the Burlington diocese for almost another 20 years after church officials decided that an abuse allegation against him was unsubstantiated. Again, in a relatively small Catholic diocese, there's no legitimate reason there should be this many 'still under the radar' allegedly abusive clerics.
The attorneys at Horowitz Law have a long history of representing survivors of child sex abuse. If you or someone you know was abused by a priest in the Diocese of Burlington, please contact Horowitz Law today for a free consultation. We can help you understand your legal options and fight for the justice you deserve. The Burlington Diocese has filed for federal bankruptcy protection, and strict deadlines will soon be set by the bankruptcy court. Please contact our law firm at 888-283-9922 or e-mail sexual abuse lawyer Adam Horowitz at adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com for a free consultation to discuss your options today.