Ordained: N/A
Assigned as follows:
- Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School (Schenectady, NY)
- Briscoe Memorial School (Kent, WA)
- All Hallows High School (Bronx, NYC)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Brother James V Hanney:
According to media reports, Br. James V Hanney was listed by the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers as accused of sexual abuse by at least two persons in claims settled in bankruptcy proceedings. Hanney was listed as a ‘former’ brother as of June 2014. The Christian Brothers stated that the merits of most of the claims settled in the bankruptcy were not tested.
In 1971, Gibbons High School students showed their principal a photo of two young men and Hanney sitting nude on a picnic table. Hanney was known to have taken groups of students to rural campgrounds and spend “nude” weekends with them. Students also found pornographic photographs of youth in his classroom office in the very early 1970s. No action was taken by the principal, another Christian Brother. Hanney remained there until 1978, before being transferred to All Hallows High School in the Bronx, New York.
In 2012, a woman alleged she had been sexually abused by Hanney when she was a Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School student in Schenectady, NY. She came forward after receiving a letter from the national office of the Irish Christian Brothers that said, “if you were sexually assaulted by any of our people you have until such-and-such a date to come forward.” She said Hanney started raping her when she was fifteen, from 1977 to 1980. He was her teacher and counselor at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School.
“It was very quickly after that I learned that my sexual assailant, rapist, and exploiter … was actually not just preying on me way back when, but that he was simultaneously a serial sexual assailant of others, both male and female, teens,” she said.
The woman and four other accusers filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of Men, an organization of priests and religious brothers. The lawsuit alleged that the group concealed the histories and identities of members who had been accused of sexually abusing children. It calls for the group to release all the identities and information about priests and brothers accused of sexual abuse.
“This is also about being there for all those other survivors that haven’t had the ability to step up yet, that were abused by him,” she said.
In February 2019, Hanney was named in a new lawsuit. It is believed he may currently be teaching in the Philippines.
In 2019, Hanney’s name appeared publicly on the Diocese of Albany’s list of clergy credibly accused of sex abuse of minors.
As of July 2020, There are at least 12 lawsuits pending against Hanney. All of the suits fall under the Child Victims Act and were filed in the state Supreme Court in Albany, New York.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Albany. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Albany, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Albany now have legal options to recover damages due to a compensation fund created for victims. Call us at 888-283-9922 or send an email to [email protected] to discuss your options today.