September 4, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
In August 2019, New York legislature enacted a new law that gave survivors of childhood sexual abuse a one-year window to file a lawsuit against their abusers. Already, over 500 cases have been filed with the state and experts estimate that thousands of lawsuits are on the way. Advocates, including attorneys, for the victims believe that justice is needed in the form of being heard by the public, recognition of the abuse, and financial compensation. Melissa Breger, a professor at the Albany (NY) Law School, agrees, “I think for a lot of these folks, it’s validation that, ‘Yes, what happened to me was wrong and the fact that I was a child and could not do anything about it is being understood now and I can now seek redress as an adult.” Ms. Breger also previously worked with domestic violence victims and victims of childhood abuse.
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California Catholic Church Settlement Fund Created
November 15, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
Six California Catholic Diocese including: Diocese of Fresno, Diocese of Orange, Diocese of Sacramento, Diocese of San Bernardino, Diocese of San Diego, and Los Angeles Archdiocese have recently unveiled a new sexual abuse settlement program for victims of childhood priest molestation in the Catholic Church. Details of the California Catholic Church Settlement fund allow for victims to file a claim without having to directly sue the Catholic Church in court but the deadline is and provide a deadline of January 31, 2020. Typically to file a lawsuit victims would be governed by California’s Statute of limitation laws.
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Accused Priest List Released by Archdioceses of Burlington (Vermont)
November 4, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
In August of 2019, Bishop Christopher Coyne, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, released a list of 40 priests accused of child sexual abuse. The abuse allegations were deemed credible by a committee appointed by Bishop Coyne, which consisted of seven lay members, four men and three women. One member was a non-catholic and one, John Mahoney, a sixty-five-year-old man from Burlington, Vermont, was a priest abuse survivor himself who settled with the church many years prior. It took the committee nine months to read through more than 50 personnel files belonging to the 40 priests. The committee used the guidelines set forward by the Catholic Archdiocese of Syracuse, New York to help them navigate through all of the documents and information.
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Other States Offer Glimpse of Ways NY’s Abuse Cases Could Play Out
September 4, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
In August 2019, New York legislature enacted a new law that gave survivors of childhood sexual abuse a one-year window to file a lawsuit against their abusers. Already, over 500 cases have been filed with the state and experts estimate that thousands of lawsuits are on the way. Advocates, including attorneys, for the victims believe that justice is needed in the form of being heard by the public, recognition of the abuse, and financial compensation. Melissa Breger, a professor at the Albany (NY) Law School, agrees, “I think for a lot of these folks, it’s validation that, ‘Yes, what happened to me was wrong and the fact that I was a child and could not do anything about it is being understood now and I can now seek redress as an adult.” Ms. Breger also previously worked with domestic violence victims and victims of childhood abuse.
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Catholic Priest Guilty of Sex Abuse in Washington, DC
September 3, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
The Rev. Urbano Vazquez, a Catholic priest from Shrine of the Sacred Heart Parish in Northwest Washington, D.C. has been convicted of four counts of child sexual abuse against two children. The abuse was committed from 2015-2017 and Father Vazquez was arrested in November 2018. He was on a list of Catholic priests credibly accused of priest molestation against children which was released shortly before his arrest in late 2018.
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Woman Sues Megachurch for $1 Million for Mishandling Her Sex Abuse Case
August 26, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Religious Institutions Sexual Abuse & Assault
In recent news, an 18-year-old-woman has hired a sexual abuse lawyer and is suing The Village Church (TVC) in Texas for more than $1 million dollars. According to the lawsuit filing, the plaintiff was allegedly 11 years old when she was sexually molested by TVC employee Matthew Tonne while attending summer camp. To make matters worse, TVC handled the initial allegations by the plaintiff poorly. Matt Chandler, TVC’s pastor, was quoted as saying “[the unnamed sexual abuser did not currently have] access to member children of TVC” because Tonne technically no longer worked for TVC. Chandler was later quoted in an email to the TVC congregation saying that Tonne was leaving TVC due to an “alcohol abuse problem”. In other words, Tonne was not leaving TVC as a result of the sexual abuse lawsuit. Tonne also received a severance package from TVC upon departure.
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Survivors of child sexual abuse gear up to file lawsuits against their abusers in New York
August 23, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
As of August 14, 2019 New York survivors of childhood sexual abuse will be given a one-year window to file a lawsuit against their abusers under the new Child Victims Act passed by NY legislature earlier this year. Thousands of cases are expected to be filed with payout estimates to victims in the millions of dollars. Under the new one-year window law, anyone who was abused is eligible to file a claim with a sexual abuse lawyer. Additionally, New York has gone from one of the worst states to one of the best states to file a childhood sexual abuse lawsuit.
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Catholic Church in N.H. Publishes Names of Priests Accused of Sex Abuse of Minors
August 22, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
The Catholic Diocese of Manchester, NH has created a website that shows a comprehensive list of priests that have been accused of Catholic Church sexual abuse. The website includes the names of priests both living and deceased dating back to incidents that occurred in the 1950s. As of August 2019, the Catholic Diocese of Manchester, NH has paid nearly $30 million to compensate victims who filed Catholic Church lawsuits.
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AHF Calls on Gilead to Set Up $10 Billion Fund for Victims Harmed by its TDF-based Drugs
August 2, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / TDF Lawsuits
As pressure continues to mount on Gilead Sciences Inc., one of the largest manufacturers of HIV/AIDS drugs, from withholding improved HIV drugs from the public to increase profits, another foundation is taking the podium. AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is calling on Gilead to set up a $10 billion compensation fund for victims that took their TDF-based drugs as part of their HIV/AIDS treatment or preventative treatment (PrEP) programs.
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Catholic Church Offers Cash to Settle Abuse Claims – With a Catch
August 2, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
In an effort to cut the total number and size of payouts made by the Catholic Church to its sexual abuse victims, and to hide key documents from the public, the Diocese of Scranton, PA and other dioceses in the US are offering child sexual abuse victims’ closed-door settlements. These settlement programs are run by third-party administrators outside of the church and offer ‘swift’ resolutions opposed to trials.
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The Biggest Deterrent to Reporting Child Sexual Abuse
July 25, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Sexual Abuse & Assault Lawsuits
Recent studies have shown that only about 34% of child-sexual-abuse victims in the United States tell authorities of their abuse before adulthood. Another 33% do tell authorities of their abuse, but far later in life with the median age being 52. And unfortunately, the final 33% never reveal their abuse. One of the contributing factors to these statistics is a law that has been a staple of the US legal system – the statute of limitations. Basically, the statute of limitations is the maximum time allowed for a victim to file a claim in a legal system.
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Minnesota Catholic Diocese to Pay $34m to Victims of Clergy Abuse
July 17, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
The Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota has agreed on a settlement to pay $34 million to at least 93 victims of sexual abuse. In conjunction with the monetary compensation for the sexually abused victims, the settlement was designed to advance the ‘children protection movement’ and to prevent sexual predators, specifically of the Catholic Church, from victimizing another generation.
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Providence Diocese Lists Priests Accused of Sexually Abusing Children
July 15, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, RI has recently released the names of 50 priests and deacons who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children dating back to 1950. In the posting on their website, the diocese indicates that 19 of the 50 names are priests and deacons that are still alive, but nearly all of the accused have been removed from ministry.
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Group releases names of 109 clerics accused of sexual abuse in Diocese of Phoenix
July 10, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
The Catholic Church sexual abuse epidemic continues as the names of more than 100 clerics accused of abuse in the Phoenix Diocese were recently released to the public. According to the report filed, more than 50 of the names released have already passed away and another 25 priests’ whereabouts are unknown.
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Superior Court reinstates priest molestation lawsuit filed against Altoona-Johnstown Diocese
July 9, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
A Pennsylvania Superior Court has recently reinstated an important lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, PA. The lawsuit claims that a woman was repeatedly molested by a pedophile priest in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The case was originally dismissed in December 2017 by a Blair County, PA Common Pleas Court due to an expiration of the statute of limitations (the time allowed to file a claim by law).
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The Catholic Church is Not Alone
June 26, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
Nearly 20 years ago, The Boston Globe lifted the curtain on the Boston Archdiocese exposing their coordinated plan to help pedophile priests avoid detection from the public and the law. Sickening and self-serving, their plan allowed those same priests and clergy to continually sexually abuse hundreds of children in Massachusetts. And as time passed, it became clear that Boston and the state of Massachusetts were not the only areas housing sexual predators embedded in the Catholic Church.
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Gilead tries—and fails—to dodge lawsuit claiming it delayed safer HIV meds
June 24, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / TDF Lawsuits
After years of allegations directed towards Gilead Sciences regarding their decision to hold back the release of improved next-gen HIV drugs in order to maximize profits from their older generation drugs, a federal judge has finally allowed a key lawsuit to proceed. 140 patients in 31 states have claimed in the lawsuit that Gilead shelved their newly developed tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (TAF) drugs in 2004 to protect the profits from their existing and older franchise drugs tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF). All the while knowing the TAF-based drugs were safer and better for patients.
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The Southern Baptist Convention must enact tough reform on its sexual abuse crisis
June 20, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Religious Institutions Sexual Abuse & Assault
With 15 million members and more than 47,000 churches, Baptists make up the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. And ten years ago, Southern Baptists cried out to denominational leaders to create a registry of sexual abusers within the church. The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) did not listen. Instead, they insisted that individual churches were autonomous and therefore sexual abuse crimes within the church were not their responsibility.
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Woman can sue Catholic Church in Pa. over alleged priest abuse 40 years ago, court says
June 17, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
With an important victory for sexual abuse victims, a Pennsylvania court has recently ruled that a woman can pursue her lawsuit claiming clergy in the Altoona-Johnstown, PA Roman Catholic Diocese covered up her alleged molestation by a priest. The lawsuit was initially dismissed by a county judge in 2017 because the statute of limitations had expired. However, a three-judge Superior Court panel reinstated the woman’s lawsuit which claims that two bishops illegally tried to cover up her sexual abuse by a priest to protect their reputations. The ruling may allow more sexual abuse victims whose abuse occurred long ago, to file claims.
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Police seized 57 items from Saginaw Diocese during raid, including ‘victim list’
June 11, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
Police in Saginaw, MI recently executed search warrants on three Catholic Diocese properties while investigating claims of sexual abuse done to minors by clergy. Public documents show that police seized nearly 60 items of evidence including what was found in the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet at the diocese headquarters, a file titled “victim list”. Additional items from seize included: computers, flash drives, expense accounts, internal memos, and the personal files of convicted sexual-abuser Rev. Robert J. DeLand Jr., three other priests, and one deacon.
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The U.S. Catholic Church spent more than $300M on abuse-related costs in 12 months
June 10, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
According to a recent report released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, from June 2017 to June 2018 the U.S. Catholic Church spent a whopping $301.6 million on clergy sexual abuse costs. Two-thirds of the clergy sexual abuse costs, or nearly $200 million, were spent on legal settlements. Additionally, the report revealed that during the same 12-month period, the Catholic Church fielded nearly 1,100 new “credible allegations” of sexual abuse committed on a minor by priests and other clergy.
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House panel OKs bill to extend statute of limitations for sex-abuse lawsuits
June 4, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
The Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee has voted by unanimous decision to give victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to sue their abusers and the institutions that shielded these criminal predators. This bill is a welcome relief for sexual abuse victims and their families. Jim Scanlan, a Rhode Island man whose account of sex abuse by a Boston College High School priest in the late 1970s that was highlighted in the Oscar-winning movie Spotlight had this to say during testimony, “This bill is important in that it allows a vehicle for more victims and survivors to come forward and really expose who the predators are, and partially to expose, those who protect them.”
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Buffalo Diocese pays $17.5M to 106 clergy sex abuse victims
June 3, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
106 childhood victims of Catholic Church sexual abuse in the Buffalo, NY area have been paid $17.5 million in compensation. The Buffalo, NY diocese has offered a total of 127 settlements with an average award of $158,622 to the sexual abuse victims. The largest settlement offer is $650,000 and due to increasing offers, the diocese’s total cost could end up north of $18 million. The trend is up. In January 2019, Buffalo News reported that the diocese had offered more than $8 million to nearly four dozen people, according to victims and lawyers. That total settlement amount has more than doubled in less than six months.
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More Than 80 Clergy Members Named in Sexual Abuse Report
May 28, 2019 / by Brett Katsma / Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
Three sexual abuse survivors from the Albany, NY area testified in court recently that they were abused by more than 80 clergy members from the Albany Diocese. One woman testified that she was raped and exploited by a man who was a teacher and counselor at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady, NY. Mark Lyman, another sexual abuse survivor that testified, said “Many of us were told when we were being abused that we were the only one. My reason for being here is to protect children and to make sure that what happened to me as a child doesn’t happen to another child here in New York State.” Mr. Lyman has spoken out more than once about the abuse he suffered as a child growing up at his church in Troy, NY.
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