Posted on 05/06/2019 4:23:20 PM PDT by Jyotishi
Attorneys on Monday, May 6, 2019 released a report containing names of more than 300 New Jersey priests and others accused of misconduct. Philip DeVencentis, Staff Writer, @LocalNewsPhil
A law firm specializing in representing abuse victims put the names in a report, linked to a suit by a man who says he was abused in Ridgefield Park.
Edward Hanratty doesn't think it's a coincidence that four abusive priests wound up at his parish in Ridgefield Park.
In his Irish Catholic community, nobody ever questioned the church, which was at the epicenter of the community, recalled Hanratty, a victim of clergy abuse who has become an advocate for victims.
"The church sent these people knowingly," he said. "I feel like our entire town was groped. Why was our church a target and there are other churches that never had a single abuser?"
Now he wants answers. He has filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Bishops of New Jersey and the New Jersey Catholic Conference demanding that New Jersey's bishops release the identities, backgrounds and histories of all clergy accused of sexual misconduct with minors. He says most of the information has been concealed.
The lawsuit contends that New Jersey's bishops maintained a "public hazard by keeping secret the names of all clergy accused of sexual misconduct in New Jersey," his attorneys, from the Minnesota-based law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates, announced Monday at a press conference in Elizabeth.
His attorneys released a report that includes the names of more than 300 diocesan priests, religious order priests, deacons, nuns, and religious brothers and sisters accused of sexual misconduct and associated with the Catholic dioceses in New Jersey.
"We release this report, the Anderson Report, and what it is is an identification of all the clerics who have been publicly accused across the state of New Jersey," said Jeff Anderson, the law firm's founder.
(Excerpt) Read more at northjersey.com ...
Looks like a lawfirm needs to be sued for defamation.
How are these ‘300 accusations’ related to their case?
WOW. The Newspaper behaved ethically!
“Why we didn’t publish the names
We have decided not to publish those named in the Anderson firm’s report. Why?
While the firm shared names and assignment histories, no details about credible accusations are included.
Anderson has asked you to believe that these 300 clerics are bad actors at face value. We believe details about accusations are required for New Jersey’s Catholics to make that judgment.
Anderson said its report drew on information “from publicly available sources, claims made by survivors to the dioceses and religious orders responsible for the offenders, and legal settlements made as a result of claims for sexual abuse.”
We question why the firm didn’t do more to attribute its information to those publicly available sources.
Further, despite taking pains to stress that “all individuals [named in the report] should be considered innocent until proven guilty,” Anderson still presents the names, though many of the cases that support its report have not been settled or, as the firm wrote, “fully evaluated in a civil or criminal court.”
Clearly I made the right decision to go into pediatrics rather than take religious vows.
So you are accused. Cops and the diocese both investigate. DA says “nothing here” and your name is put out on the internet.
How horrid for those men!
The only solution in dealing with predatory, homosexual, criminal priests is to arrest them, try them and then imprison them. The Church should have no role. It is also necessary to prosecute anyone within the Church that sought to protect the criminals and obstruct justice.
I grew up in New Jersey, went to Church regularly, and attended a Catholic High school. I only came across one of these priests (now deceased) and although he was a little weird, I had no idea he might be a child molester.
I have never heard even a hint of an accusation against any of the many dozens of priests who taught at my high school over the years. Now, my Boy Scout leader on the other hand was accused of being a homosexual by his wife years when they divorced and he also creeped me out a little by appearing in the locker room after a (boys) swim meet.
The fact is this the usual result of such investigations. Old allegations where the guilty of died or been defrocked. The Catholic Bishops put together a program in the 2002-2003 time frame, and by and large it has worked. The number of credible allegations has plummeted.
What I would like to see is investigations of public schools which are ripe with sexual abuse of students.
They may not have published the names, but they provided a link to a PDF file of the report that supposedly contains the names.
everything should be in a court of law, with judges and testimony and evidence and exposure......
most all cases could not be proved in a criminal court.....
Yes, it contains the names. But they did not compound the crime.
The PDF may be cleverly worded.
Most are names and where they served without any allegation. looks like a legal dodge by the law firm ! We
A few contain the allegation, like this one:
“ Br. Robert “Edmund” Coakley, O.F.M., was a member of the Franciscan Friars. He also worked as a Scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts of America within the Archdiocese of Newark. In 1978, two brothers, aged 14 and 11, accused Br. Coakley ”
I’m glad I grew up thinking about baseball, hockey and girls because I’m so sick of gay-gay-gay all the time.
I wish boys today could have the happier lives we had.
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