Religious Order Sued By Two Victims For Sex Abuse From 35 Years Ago

As reported in a press release on Tuesday from Jeff Anderson & Associates, two new clergy abuse lawsuits were filed this week in state court in Minnesota:

Civil lawsuits were filed today by two men who were sexually abused as minors by clergy at Crosier Seminary in Onamia, Minn. Doe 51 and Doe 56 were molested by multiple priests and brothers of the Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross (“Crosier”) religious order. Several of the clergy named in the complaints also interacted with and sexually abused children throughout Minnesota, including at parishes and schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and the Diocese of St. Cloud.

Doe 51 was sexually abused from approximately 1979-81 by Father Gerald Funcheon, Brother Gabriel Guerrero and Brother Roman Fleischhacker, when Doe 51 was approximately 15-17 years old. Doe 56 was sexually abused in approximately 1979-80 by Funcheon, Brother Wendell Mohs and Father Roger Vaughn, when Doe 56 was approximately 14-15 years old. The perpetrators were assigned to Crosier Seminary at the time they abused Doe 51 and Doe 56, who attended the seminary.

The complaint (full text) in Doe 56 v. Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross and (full text) in Doe 51 v. Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross, (MN Dist. Ct., filed 7/28/2015) charge defendant religious order with negligence, negligent supervision and negligent retention of the offending clergy. The Minnesota Child Victim Act enacted in 2013 extended the statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases, including creating a retroactive 3-year window for victims whose claims were previously barred.

Negligent Supervision Claim Against Diocese By Sex-Abuse Victim Can Proceed

In John Doe 200 v. Diocese of Raleigh, (NC App., July 7, 2015), a North Carolina appellate court held that the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine does not require dismissal of a sex-abuse victim's negligent supervision claims against the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh. The court held:

Were we to adopt the Diocese Defendants’ argument ..., then the First Amendment would, as a practical matter, serve as a complete shield to tort liability for religious organizations in the sexual abuse context except in those cases in which the plaintiff specifically alleged prior sexual assaults by the cleric at issue. We do not believe the First Amendment requires such a result.... Neutral principles of law allow a civil court to adjudicate Plaintiff’s claim that the Diocese Defendants knew or should have known of the danger posed by Sepulveda [a priest] to Plaintiff because of his sexual attraction to minors.

The court however reached a different conclusion on plaintiff's claim that the Diocese should have required the offending priest to undergo STD testing and should have provided the results to plaintiff:

This claim seeks to impose liability based on the Diocese Defendants’ alleged failure to exercise their authority over a priest stemming from an oath of obedience taken by him pursuant to the church’s canon law. As such, this claim directly “challenges church actions involving religious doctrine and practice” and cannot be adjudicated without entangling a secular court in ecclesiastical matters. 

St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese Victims Want Bankruptcy Court To Order Distribution of Video Urging Claimants To File

In the bankruptcy reorganization proceedings of the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, August 3 is the deadline for sex abuse victims to file claims.  Yesterday's Wall Street Journal reports that in a motion filed June 29 (full text), the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (representing victim claimants) presented the bankruptcy court with a seven-minute video urging victims to come forward before the deadline. The motion asks the court to order the Archdiocese to deliver written notice to each parish asking it to play the video after each Mass on the July 11-12 weekend, requesting each parish to post the video (or a link to it) on its website, and ordering the Archdiocese to post the video on its own website. The Archdiocese in its response to the motion (full text) says there has already been adequate notice and the video has already received extensive distribution by the media. The response (full text) of the committee representing individual parishes adds that "Parishes could view the
order and request as implicating First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution, " The bankruptcy court will hold a hearing on the motion today.

Milwaukee Archdiocese Seeks Supreme Court Review In Bankruptcy Decision

According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, yesterday a petition for certiorari was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in Listecki v. Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors.  In the case, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that $55 million held by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in a perpetual care trust fund for maintaining Catholic cemeteries is potentially available in the Archdiocese's bankruptcy to satisfy claims of clergy sex abuse victims. (See prior posting.)

Priest Sues Claiming Discrimination After Molestation Charges Are Dropped

As reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Catholic priest Xiu Hui "Joseph" Jiang, who had been charged with abusing a boy, but then had charges dropped, filed a federal lawsuit last week charging the boy's parents and others with religious and ethnic discrimination.  Jiang separately had been charged with having improper contact with a teenage girl and paying hush money to her family. Those charges have also been dropped.  The complaint (full text) in Jiang v. Porter, (ED MO, filed 6/25/2015), alleges in part:

This is a case of false accusations that have destroyed the life of a promising young man and priest. Father Xiu Hui “Joseph” Jiang (“Fr. Joseph”) fled religious persecution in his native land of China, only to face religious persecution in America in the form of unconstitutional discrimination by state officials. Defendants A.M. and N.M. falsely and maliciously accused Fr. Joseph of sexually abusing their minor son for the crass motive of monetary gain. Acting in conjunction with A.M. and N.M., officers Tonya Porter and Jaimie Pitterle engaged in invidious religious discrimination against Fr. Joseph under color of law, targeting him for differential treatment and selective prosecution because he is a Catholic priest. Defendants SNAP, David Clohessy, and Barbara Dorris have led a shameless smear campaign in the St. Louis community against Fr. Joseph, relentlessly accusing him of molesting the same minor child, with malice and reckless disregard for the actual facts of the case. All defendants fomented and participated in a tragic rush to judgment against Fr. Joseph, and all conspired to deprive Fr. Joseph of his constitutional rights,

British Court Holds Jehovah's Witness Parent Body Vicariously Liable In Clergy Sex Abuse Case

A v. Trustees of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, (EWHC, June 19, 2015), involves claims against a Jehovah's Witness congregation (actually its successors) and the Jehovah's Witness parent body by a 29-year old woman who between the ages of 4 and 9 was sexually abused by Peter Stewart, a Jehovah's Witness ministerial servant. A judge on England's High Court (Queen's Bench) held the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society vicariously liable for the failure of the Elders in the congregation to take reasonable steps to protect claimant from Peter Stewart after they became aware in 1990 that he had sexually assaulted another child in the congregation. The court also held defendants vicariously liable for the sexual assault itself, saying:

Whether the abuse took place at or after book study at whoever's home, on field service, at Kingdom Hall or at the Convention, he was ostensibly performing his duties as a Jehovah's Witness ministerial servant. I am satisfied that the progressive acts of intimacy were only possible because he had the actual or ostensible status of a ministerial servant that meant no one who saw him questioned his being alone with the claimant.

Law & Religion UK has more on the decision.

Vatican Drops the Other Shoe In Attacking Mishandling of Sex Abuse Claims

Just days after the Vatican announced a new Tribunal to hear cases of bishops who fail to protect children from sexually abusive priests (see prior posting) and the criminal indictment of the St. Paul-Minneapolis Catholic Archdiocese for inadequate responses to reports of sexual abuse (see prior posting), the Archbishop and Auxiliary Bishop of the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese have resigned. According to the National Catholic Reporter, on Monday the Vatican announced the resignations of both Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché. Nienstedt had been charged with mishandling complaints against convicted former priest Curtis Wehmeyer, and later unproven charges were leveled against Nienstedt himself claiming inappropriate sexual contact with adults and a boy. Piché oversaw the investigation of Nienstedt, and for a while headed the Archdiocese.  Newark, New Jersey Coadjutor Archbishop Bernard Hebda has been appointed Apostolic Administrator for the Archdiocese.

AP has a timeline of key events in the Archdiocese scandal. Wall Street Journal points out that all of this is taking place as the Archdiocese is going through a bankruptcy reorganization.

Meanwhile, the Vatican also announced on Monday that former apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic, Jozef Wesolowski, will be criminally tried in the Tribunal of the Vatican City State.  Wesolowski is charged with sexual abuse of minors while in the Dominican Republic, and possession of child pornography while in Rome. (See prior posting.)

Pope Approves New Tribunal For Charges Against Bishops In Sex Abuse Cases

Vatican Radio yesterday reported that Pope Francis has approved a recommendation by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors for creation a new Vatican tribunal to hear cases of bishops who fail to protect children from sexually abusive priests. The tribunal will be set up as a judicial section within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Minneapolis Archdiocese Charged Criminally For Inadequate Responses To Priest Abuse

In a 44-page criminal complaint (full text) filed today, the state of Minnesota charged the Catholic Diocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis with contributing to the need for protection or services and contributing to the delinquency or status as a juvenile offender in connection with three separate victims of clergy sexual abuse. A civil complaint was also filed by the state.  As summarized by the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

The charges stem from the archdiocese’s oversight of former priest Curtis Wehmeyer, who is now serving a prison term for abusing two boys while he was pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church in St. Paul.

At a press conference, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said:

Today we are alleging a disturbing institutional and systemic pattern of behavior committed by the highest levels of leadership of the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis over the course of decades.

By filing criminal charges and taking civil action, we are holding the archdiocese accountable for its failure to responsibly and meaningfully respond to numerous and repeated reports of troubling conduct by Curtis Wehmeyer.

The New York Times also reported on the filing of the six misdemeanor charges, each of which carries a maximum fine of $3000. By filing charges only against the Archdiocese, and not against individuals, the possibility of imposing the 1 year prison sentence that is also available on each charge disappears.

UPDATE: Here is an audio recording of the news conference in which the County Attorney announced the criminal charges. According to MPR News, he said that the investigation continues, but as of now prosecutors do not have sufficient evidence to charge any individual church officials criminally. [Thanks to Tom Rutledge for the update lead.]

Helena Diocese Posts List of Alleged Abusers As Part of Settlement

As reported by the Ravalli Republic, last Wednesday, as part of the non-monetary terms of the settlement with 362 sex-abuse victims, the Catholic Diocese of Helena, Montana posted on its webiste the names of 80 individuals (priests, sisters and lay persons) who were identified by the victims as sexual abusers betwen the 1930's and the 1970's.  A number of the alleged abusers are identified only by first or last name. Most of those on the list have died.  Under the settlement, the names are to remain posted for at least ten years. The diocese exited bankruptcy in March. (Full text of reorganization plan and confirmation order.)

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Reinstates Priest's Child Endangerment Conviction; Trial Court Orders Him Back To Prison

On Monday in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Lynn, (PA Sup. Ct., April 27, 2015), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in a 4-1 decision, reinstated the conviction of Msgr. William J. Lynn who had been sentenced to prison for 3 to 6 years on charges of endangering the welfare of children. Lynn is the first U.S. priest criminally convicted of covering up sexual molestation of minors by another priest. An appeals court reversed the conviction, holding that the statute under which Lynn was convicted only applies to a person who is directly in charge of a child, not to someone supervising the person in charge. (See prior posting.) Now the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has reversed the appellate court, holding "the statute is plain and unambiguous that it is not the child that Appellee must have been supervising, but the child’s welfare." The court explained:

[T]he requirement of supervision is not limited to only certain forms of supervision, such as direct or actual, as the Superior Court held. By its plain terms it encompasses all forms of supervision of a child’s welfare.... Further, as the Commonwealth correctly argues, supervision is routinely accomplished through subordinates, and is no less supervisory if it does not involve personal encounters with the children. Like Appellee, school principals and managers of day care centers supervise the welfare of the children under their care through their management of others. Depending upon the facts, they could be criminally liable for endangering the welfare of the children under their supervision if they knowingly place sexually abusive employees in such proximity to them as to allow for the abuse of these youth.

Chief Justice Saylor filed a dissenting opinion.

As reported by the Philadelphia Daily News, in January 2014 after the state appeals court (Superior Court) reversed Lynn's conviction, Lynn was released from prison on bail, but ordered to remain under house arrest pending the appeal to the state Supreme Court.  Yesterday a common pleas court judge ordered Lynn back to prison. Lynn's attorney said he will file an emergency petition with the Superior Court seeking Lynn's release on bail again while additional issues are resolved on appeal.

Catholic Bishop Robert Finn, Convicted of Not Reporting Sex Abuse, Resigns

According to the National Catholic Reporter, the Vatican yesterday announced that Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn, head of the diocese of St. Joseph-Kansas City, Missouri.  In September 2012, Finn became the first bishop convicted criminally for failure to report suspicion of child abuse by a priest in his diocese. (See prior posting.) Parishioners have been calling for Finn's resignation, and Vatican's Congregation for Bishops conducted an apostolic visitation in September 2014 to investigate. In a posting on its website, the St. Joseph-Kansas City Diocese announced the resignation and the appointment of Kansas Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese.

Irish Court Dismisses Abuse Suit Against Religious Order Not Brought For 30 Years

In Cassidy v. The Provincialate, (Ireland Ct. App., April 16, 2015), Ireland's Court of Appeal held that a sex abuse suit seeking damages from the Religious Sisters of Charity should be dismissed for inordinate and inexcusable delay.  The suit was brought in 2012 by a 47-year old married mother of four who claimed that a male employee of the religious order assaulted, abused and raped her over a period of 4 years beginning in 1977 when she was between 12 and 16 years old. She alleged that the religious order was negligent in allowing the abuser (identified as "PD") to have ongoing unsupervised contact with children. The appeals court concluded that there was insufficient evidence of facts that would excuse plaintiff's delay in bringing suit, and the delay would cause great prejudice to defendant since the alleged abuser is now dead:

In the absence of PD, the defendant is not in a position to challenge or counter the allegations of abuse which the plaintiff makes.... [I]n circumstances where, almost to a man or woman, those who were alive at the time of the alleged abuse are dead or incapable of giving evidence, the defendant is once again left in a hopelessly vulnerable situation. Further, those witnesses that might have been able to assist in giving evidence referable to the issue as to whether or not the defendant ought to be deemed vicariously liable for the actions of PD, should findings of abuse be made against him, are effectively non existent.

Lexology reports on the decision.

California Appeals Court: No Duty To Warn Congregants of Child Molester

In Conti v. Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc., (CA App., April 13, 2015), a California state appeals court held that elders of a Jehovah's Witness congregation had no duty to warn the congregation in general, or parents, that another member of the congregation had previously molested a child.  In the case, Candace Conti who as a child was subsequently molested by the same fellow Church member (Jonathan Kendrick), sued the Congregation and its national Church body. The court concluded that a duty to warn arises only where there is a special relationship with the injured party:

While it is readily foreseeable that someone who has molested a child may do so again, the burden the duty to warn would create and the adverse social consequences the duty would produce outweigh its imposition. The burden would be considerable because the precedent could require a church to intervene whenever it has reason to believe that a congregation member is capable of doing harm, and the scope of that duty could not be limited with any precision..... Child molestation is a particularly heinous evil, but which other potential harms would the church have a duty to avert?... Imposition of a duty to warn would also have detrimental social consequences. It would discourage wrongdoers from seeking potentially beneficial intervention, and contravene the public policy against disclosure of penitential communications....

However the court upheld the jury's finding that the Church was negligent in failing to prevent Kendrick from performing church-sponsored field service-- door-to-door preaching-- alone with a minor. That gave Kendrick particular opportunity to molest Conti.

Based on these conclusions, the appeals court, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, reversed the $8.6 million punitive damage award against the national Watchtower Society, but affirmed damages for negligence awarded against the defendants for $2.8 million.

8th Circuit Invalidates Missouri House of Worship Protection Act

In Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests, Inc. v. Joyce,  (8th Cir., March 9, 2015), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals held that Missouri's House of Worship Protection Act violates the 1st Amendment's free speech protections.  The statute, which prohibits "using profane discourse, rude or indecent behavior, or making noise either within the house of worship or so near it as to disturb the order and solemnity of the worship services," was challenged by groups and individuals who picket Catholic Churches over clergy sexual abuse and other issues.  The court concluded that the statute is a content-based restriction on speech and is thus subject to strict scrutiny.  The court added:

The broad sweep of the Worship Protection Act's ban ... can prevent significant messages from being publicly expressed, solely because they are offensive or disagreeable to some. Such risks are heightened near the places regulated by the Act—churches and buildings used for religious purposes. These locations are the most likely places for appellants to find their intended audience, including individuals who have personally been affected or victimized by instances of clerical sexual abuse and church employees with knowledge or information about abusive acts.

Kansas City Star reports on the decision.

Chicago Muslim School Head Charged With Sexual Abuse of Female Staffer and Students

AP reported yesterday that 75-year old Mohammad Abdullah Saleem, founder and long-time head of the suburban Chicago Institute of Islamic Education, has been criminally charged with sexually abusing a female school employee beginning in 2012. Saleem denies the allegations.  Saleem has also been sued civilly by the female victim and three female former-students who also allege sexual abuse dating back as early as the 1980's. Saleem is considered a leading Islamic scholar in the U.S. The civil suit charges the school with failure to protect students and asks for over $1.5 million in damages.

Cert. Denied In Dispute Over Characterization of Communications With Priest

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday denied certiorari in Roman Catholic Church of the Diocese of Baton Rouge v. Mayeux, (Docket No. 14-220, cert. denied 1/20/2015) (Order List). In the case, the Louisiana Supreme Court held that a trial court could decide whether a communication between a teenager and a priest over the 14-year old's romantic relationship with a parishioner amounted to a confession regardless of the Church's characterization of the communication. (See prior posting.) The Baton Rouge Advocate reports on the denial of review.

Report Released On Counseling of Sex Abuse Victims At Bob Jones University

Last week, Bob Jones University released a 300-page Final Report (full text) growing out of an investigation by the non-profit organization GRACE of the University's inadequate counseling of students who disclosed that they were sexually abused as a child, or were sexually abused after they enrolled at Bob Jones University or its Academy. Calling attention to the Report, yesterday's Daily Beast says in part:

At this point, there are so many sex scandals among conservative religious organizations, we’re no longer surprised by any of them. The latest revelation—that for decades, the evangelical Bob Jones University blamed victims of sexual assault and discouraged the prosecution of predators—should be shocking, but probably isn’t.

Yet, the recent report on BJU’s misconduct is different. Unusually for such a document, it makes a theological case against sexual abuse—but in so doing, it points to the deep roots of rape culture that may not be so easily uprooted.

Suit Charges Jehovah's Witnesses With Covering Up Child Abuse

The Oregonian reports that yesterday a $10.5 million lawsuit was filed in state court in Oregon against Jehovah's Witness organizations claiming that they have a policy of covering up sexual abuse of minors by Jehovah's Witness leaders.  The suit was brought by a man and a woman, adults now, who claim they were molested as children by Daniel Castellanos, who held a position equivalent to an ordained minister of a congregation. Plaintiffs' attorney says that the Jehovah's Witness governing body does not disfellowship an alleged abuser unless he confesses or they have two eyewitnesses to the abuse. Even then the congregation is not told why the action occurred.

Pope Francis Creates New Judicial Body To Speed Up Sex Abuse Claims

Religion News Service and Vatican Radio report that Pope Francis has created a new 7-member judicial body within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to speed up the handling of complaints against priests alleging sexual abuse of minors.  The new body will deal with cases initially screened by local bishops. It will also deal with serious abuses of the Sacrament of Penance.  Complaints against bishops will continue to be handled by the full Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The full text of the Pope's rescript which came into force yesterday is available in Italian.