Posted on 09/30/2004 8:51:46 AM PDT by sidewalk
Attorney asks for priest's records Aretakis wants personnel files on cleric who accused him of slander
ALBANY -- A lawyer representing victims of sexual abuse by priests is trying to force the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany to turn over the personnel records of a priest who has filed an ethics complaint against him. John Aretakis filed the lawsuit Wednesday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, claiming he can't defend himself against the Rev. Carl Urban's attacks until he sees all the evidence.
Aretakis claims the records will show that church officials covered for Urban's behavior.
"We haven't seen the action or any paperwork," diocesan spokesman Kenneth Goldfarb said. "But we'll respond in court, as we always do."
Urban, the pastor of St. Adalbert's Church in Schenectady, filed a complaint on June 30 with the state Committee on Professional Standards, accusing the North Greenbush lawyer of slandering him during a speech in May.
In that presentation, Aretakis told hundreds of members of Concerned Catholics of the Albany Diocese that Urban had sex with a boy in a public restroom 15 years ago and had been labeled by a fellow priest as "one of the worst."
Urban's complaint against Aretakis joins at least 10 others before the state panel that oversees lawyers, including some the panel has filed itself.
Aretakis is also asking the diocese for police and psychiatric records and documents from the Servants of the Paraclete, in Maryland, a pedophilia treatment center for priests where he claims Urban spent time.
Aretakis: Cop's story proves (Albany) diocese coverup Troy (NY) Record ^ | August 28, 2004 | Robert Cristo
A retired police officer came forward Friday with allegations that Schenectady priest Carl Urban attempted to solicit sex from him back in the late 1980s after reading recent reports of the pastor accusing attorney John Aretakis of slandering his name.
Retired Schenectady Det. Lincoln Grimm shared the details of how he allegedly crossed paths with Urban nearly 16 years ago as he walked down Broadway around midnight after completing a shift at work.
Urban has led the Church of St. Adalbert on Lansing Street for many years.
According to taped and live telephone calls through Aretakis, Grimm accused Urban of propositioning him for sex in an area of the city known to have male prostitutes circulating at night.
However, there was never any mention of a money transaction; just an offer to go back to Grimm's place for what he assumed was sex.
"He propositioned me on my way home. ... He wanted sexual activity with me," said Grimm, on tape, and made a similar statement over the phone Friday morning. "Then I identified myself as a police officer."
"I didn't arrest him, and I wanted to keep it quiet. ... I told him to contact me and he told me (the next day) his lawyer said he didn't do anything wrong," added the Albany resident.
Grimm went on to say Urban was allegedly on a police list of people known to pick up male prostitutes around City Hall in Schenectady during the '80s.
"We kept an intelligence file of people who hung out there and father was on the list," said Grimm, who retired in 2001 and was an investigator in the juvenile unit.
Grimm also said he contacted Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard to discuss the matter, but Hubbard told him someone else from the diocese would call him back to discuss it.
Shortly after that, Grimm claims then Schenectady Police Chief Richard Nelson called him into his office and told him it was not appropriate protocol for him to call the bishop.
"I called Hubbard, kept it discreet ... I was chastised by Chief Nelson for calling him," said Grimm, who added that Urban's father was a Schenectady police officer. "I said I was unaware of the protocol."
No charges were ever filed against Urban, but Grimm said shortly thereafter the priest was sent by the diocese to the Servants of Paraclete pedophile treatment center in New Mexico, which closed in 1994.
Nelson, 66, who retired as chief in 1990, went as far as saying, "it's possible" the incident had occurred, but that it was so long ago he wasn't sure.
"It may have happened, but I can't recall," said Nelson, who added that the City Hall area was a known hangout for prostitutes back in the '80s.
Nelson also said Grimm was a good cop who never gave him any problems.
"I doubt whether he (Grimm) would lie about something. ... He was an effective cop," said Nelson from his home in Schenectady.
Aretakis, who represents numerous alleged victims of clergy sex abuse, believes that the incident is proof of how the diocese conspired with law-enforcement agencies to keep potentially controversial issues out of the limelight.
"I think the federal government should be interested in how it kept problem priests outside of our criminal and civil justice system," said Aretakis.
Diocese spokesperson Kenneth Goldfarb would not confirm or deny the incident occurred or comment on whether Urban had been sent away for treatment.
However, he did say it should be noted that none of the allegations made against Urban by Grimm were considered illegal or are mentioned in a recent complaint the pastor filed with the Committee on Professional Standards against Aretakis.
"We're not going to talk about anything of that nature involving a priest (or any employee of the diocese)," said Goldfarb. "When a concern of this nature is brought to the diocese, it is viewed seriously and dealt with appropriately.
"We have a policy that deals with clergy sex abuse of minors, and that is handled differently. This is not that kind of case," he added.
Grimm contends he never would have gone public with his story had it not been for Urban recently filing the complaint, which accuses Aretakis of making false statements during a May 8 address to members of the Coalition of Concerned Catholics in the Albany Diocese.
In the complaint, which was released to the media this week by Aretakis, Urban contends that Aretakis publicly criticized him after he (Urban) made positive statements on Hubbard's behalf during a televised news conference with the diocese back in February.
During Aretakis' address to the Concerned Catholics, an ultra conservative Catholic group, he claimed that Urban was picked up by police at the Albany Festival of Nations in an Empire Plaza Concourse men's room for inappropriate sexual conduct 15 years ago.
"I have no idea where such allegations originated," wrote Urban to the Committee on Professional Standards in reaction.
Aretakis also told the group that the late Rev. John Minkler, who committed suicide in February, wrote six letters, each noting at the bottom that Urban was "one of the worst," sexual predators.
Urban reacted in his letter to the committee by saying all the allegations against him are false and that they had devastated him and his family.
"The clear implication in the context of Mr. Aretakis statement surrounding that sentence is that I am one of the worst pedophiles or abusers of children," wrote Urban.
There are no police records of any arrest or charges against Urban.
Grimm did not attend a Friday morning press conference at Aretakis' home in North Greenbush, but he did say over the phone if Urban decided to sue Aretakis he would testify on behalf of Aretakis.
Aretakis believes that Urban's complaint, which is latest of many filed by people related to the diocese, is just a way to threaten him and his clients.
"Their (the diocese) strategy is to attack the lawyer...that obviously backfired here," said Aretakis. Urban's lawyer Robert Roche was out of town and could be reached for comment.
Aretakis is Captain Queeg pursuing the Great Whale, Hubbard.
He'll destroy his career in the process.
Looks like Aretakis has some of the evidence he needs to defend himself from Urban's complaint about the statements Aretakis made; he's got his witness, Grimm.
It will be interesting to see if the court says he needs the personnel file to defend himself against Urban's complaint.
From the New York Lawyer (http://www.nylawyer.com/news/04/09/093004a.html):
NY Lawyer Fights Disciplinary Probe
September 30, 2004
By John Caher
New York Law Journal
ALBANY — An ethics complaint against attorney John A. Aretakis is raising questions about a disciplinary body's ability to litigate what amounts to a slander allegation, and the right of an attorney to publicly disseminate a misconduct complaint.
Mr. Aretakis, a Manhattan and Albany area plaintiff's attorney specializing in clergy abuse cases, this week challenged the Third Department's Committee on Professional Standards.
He contends the disciplinary agency has neither the jurisdiction nor the capacity to determine the validity of what at its core is a defamation action. And he also claims, contrary to the committee's position, that he has a right to make such a complaint public.
The dispute stems from comments made by Mr. Aretakis at a May meeting of the Coalition of Concerned Catholics of the Albany Diocese, a conservative group that has been critical of the diocesan leadership.
At that meeting, Mr. Aretakis accused the Reverend Carl A. Urban of numerous sexual improprieties and implicated the diocese and its bishop in a cover-up. Mr. Aretakis does not deny making those accusations and has publicly repeated them on several occasions.
Reverend Urban contends the allegations are "absolutely false" and defamatory. However, instead of commencing a slander action — which Mr. Aretakis dared him to do at the meeting — the priest took his complaint to the Third Department's Committee on Professional Standards.
"My purpose is to ask this Committee to investigate the conduct of this man and to protect innocent persons, like myself, from his public pronouncements of vindictive hate and salacious lies," Reverend Urban said in a complaint that was made public by Mr. Aretakis.
Often, observers said, an ethics complaint predicated on an underlying tort is left to the Civil Court since a disciplinary panel could then rely on the court action to prosecute a misconduct charge.
In the case of Mr. Aretakis, the Third Department panel has apparently decided to proceed in the absence of a civil action. That means the committee may have to prosecute a defamation case, acting in essence as counsel for the complainant.
In his Sept. 27 response to the ethics complaint, Mr. Aretakis observes that truth is an absolute defense and notes that the committee cannot find him guilty of misconduct without first finding that he slandered the priest. That, he said, it is neither authorized nor equipped to do.
I guess the committee respectfully disagrees with Mr. Aretakis' opinion.
Mr. Aretakis observes that truth is an absolute defense
Boy, that just sounds so darn good! The only remaining hurdle is proving the truth. No problem, right?
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