Learning About Survivors From the Illinois Attorney General’s 2023 Report on Clergy Sex Abuseii

The dioceses also did not want to include religious orders or externs on their lists because they are “not our men,” even though they were working in the diocese. They are governed by their order and not by the diocese. The report points out that doesn’t make sense if you care about survivors. The AG ultimately convinced dioceses to include these names on their lists.

Lawsuits?

Being honest with the survivors could subject the diocese to additional lawsuits. There is a conflict between survivors and making sure the church doesn’t pay too much money. “Another illustration of the tension between the goals of limiting liability for the institution and promoting justice for survivors.” (480) The cost to the church is always at issue. Sometimes the church will stop paying for counselors for survivors as it is simply too expensive, even though paying for counseling was a good idea.

There is data analysis by Dr. Greg Ridgeway. It shows how many abusers there were and how many years they were available to abuse. The numbers show the differences among the bishops. This analysis pays more attention to facts in different dioceses, unlike the John Jay Report, commissioned by the bishops, which combined all the data, not by diocese. Also John Jay data was reported by the bishops, who were long too skeptical about allegations to report everything necessary.

This report explains what happens with survivors; opening this investigation let them speak, be heard, learn there are others and that they are not alone. It gives the names of abusers, the stories of survivors, the mistakes made by the Illinois Dioceses, the lessons the dioceses learned from the Attorney General’s thorough investigation, and suggestions for more that the dioceses can do to protect survivors. Then the AG says, “more work remains.” (634)

The future work is in five categories: (1) Survivor Care and Communications, (2) Investigations and Determinations, (3) Disclosure and Transparency, (4) Mediation and Compensation, and (5) Religious Orders.

https://verdict.justia.com/2023/05/31/learning-about-survivors-from-the-illinois-attorney-generals-2023-report-on-clergy-sex-abuse

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Learning About Survivors From the Illinois Attorney General’s 2023 Report on Clergy Sex Abuse

1) To care for survivors, dioceses must separate support offices from investigations. They must allow reporting any way it can happen, and make it available on the website. Anonymity should be allowed for survivors if they want to use that (as some but not all did in this report). Obviously, no retaliation against survivors is permitted. The existence and number of prior complaints should be disclosed and not hidden, whether they are substantiated or unsubstantiated. Also be prepared to deal with those who have been negatively affected by abuse. Bishops should meet with survivors privately. They should make sure the counselors are educated and qualified for this kind of work.

2) “Child sex abuse” should have uniform terms and standards in all the dioceses and not a different standard in one from the other. This report suggests “substantiated” and “unsubstantiated” as good terms to use. A complaint is substantiated if “it is reasonable to suspect that the accused engaged in child sex abuse.” (654) Improve the intake procedures and keep track of everything. Even hire an independent private investigator to see how everything is treated. A lot of the dioceses’ files didn’t have very much in them. And avoid bias in your investigations. Having the investigator would make the investigations consistent with one another.

3) Disclosure and transparency are huge, and maybe one of the biggest accomplishments. Get the names out there. All of them. This helps and heals the survivors. It might make sense to think you should leave the dead ones alone. But they didn’t leave the survivors alone, and survivors get the first call. Listing the names is a “game changer” for survivors, maybe part of what turns them from victims to survivors. (660) Keep updating and investigating. Again, there were many names missing from the dioceses’ websites. Make the listings very specific. And include everybody on the lists, as this report does.

4) Mediation and compensation work because SOL prevents justice in many cases so they need this justice. Here they mention the SOLs and how they work as a “complete defense” for the dioceses. (674) In Illinois, no SOL for crimes on or after January 1, 2020. Before that date, a 20-year SOL applies. No time limit on filing civil claims for child sex abuse on or after January 1, 2014. And there is no longer a time limit to file civil claims for abuse that occurred before that date, provided the preexisting time limit had not already expired by January 1, 2014. The report mentions California’s and New York’s brief open windows, which overcame those states’ SOLs. However, to get that in Illinois you would have to amend the state constitution. That leaves negotiation or mediation. Dioceses should develop a viable independent mediation and compensation program. Yes, compensate the survivors for what they suffered.

5) Don’t avoid those religious orders or externs, or the deceased, resigned, or laicized. Report and include, including what the orders find about them. Dioceses should stop resisting putting the abusers’ names on the list.

This is what frees survivors. And survivors should come first, as they do in this report. https://verdict.justia.com/2023/05/31/learning-about-survivors-from-the-illinois-attorney-generals-2023-report-on-clergy-sex-abuse