Father Murphy (center) accepts a check for $16,000 on behalf of St. Johns School for the Deaf from the Knights of Columbus in 1966. Murphy, who was fluent in American Sign Language, was a tireless fund-raiser for St. Johns, where he worked from 1950 to 1974. By all accounts, Murphy was much revered in the deaf community.
If he is guilty he should suffer the full penalty of the law.
There can be no excuse for molesting children, the Church should co-operate in every way to see justice done.
If the Church had taken this in hand years ago this wouldnt be a big deal now. The way to deal with it now is with openness and cooperation and the expulsion of all guilty parties.
Steve Geier, at his Madison home with his wife, Ann, says he reported the sexual abuse by Father Murphy to three priests on three occasions through the years. Two indicated they did not believe him, and one told him to forget about it.
Instead, Murphy waved them away as if he were swatting at gnats and quickly went back into the cottage.
"That was a long time ago," Murphy said, both speaking and gesturing in American Sign Language. "Don't bother me."
Murphy, who died in 1998, is believed to have molested dozens of boys at St. John's School for the Deaf in St. Francis, where he worked for 24 years. Some of his victims are coming forward to ask the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to compensate them for their suffering. The Journal Sentinel interviewed eight of them.
Murphy's dark side might never have surfaced if not for Bolger, Budzinski and Gary Smith, who began having flashbacks in their 20s about the sexual abuse and started sharing their experiences with each other. In 1974, they decided it was time to tell their secret. They wanted to save other deaf boys from being molested by Murphy.
One year earlier, a deaf boy went to the St. Francis Police Department to report that Murphy molested him, records show. The case was dropped after Murphy told police the boy was mentally retarded, according to a deaf teacher who was at the school at the time.
When the men decided to work together to get Murphy removed from the school, he was well known in both the hearing and deaf community and had influential friends.
Murphy was Midwest adviser to the International Catholic Deaf Association and chaplain of the Cardinal Stritch Council 4614 of the Knights of Columbus, as well as the director of St. John's. A few years before the men began their protests, he had received the American Legion Award for Distinguished Service for Child Welfare.
By all accounts Murphy, who was fluent in American Sign Language, a tireless fund-raiser for St. John's and a wonderful teacher, was much beloved by the deaf community. Bolger, a graduate of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., knew it would be an uphill battle.
"I knew he was still molesting boys," said Bolger, who lives in Compton, Calif. "We got the cold shoulder from some members of the deaf community. There were factions. We were not together on this."
As the oldest member of the group, Bolger arranged for several adult victims to go to the Milwaukee County district attorney's office and the St. Francis Police Department to file complaints against Murphy. The men communicated by printing their statements on paper and then pushing them over the desk to the detectives, who wrote back with more questions.
Murphy denied the allegations, and the police investigation was dropped. No criminal charges were issued because the men were adults and the crimes were beyond the statute of limitations.
"It is just hard to communicate with hearing people," said Gary Smith, who lives near San Antonio. "It's like, 'Where do you go?' "
Steve Geier, 55, another of Murphy's victims, was living with his wife and two young children in Madison during the protests against Murphy. He said he reported the abuse to three priests on three separate occasions through the years. Two indicated they did not believe him, and the other told him to forget about it.
All those guys giving the priest that check look gay too.