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With little explanation, Buffalo diocese has reinstated 17 priests
accused of sexual abuse
Jay Tokasz
Buffalo News
Sep 6, 2022
Buffalo Diocese Bishop Michael Fisher at Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral in Buffalo on Feb. 6, 2022.
Seventeen of the 29 Buffalo Diocese priests put on administrative leave since 2018 due to a sex abuse allegation involving a minor were later allowed to resume their priestly activities.
The diocese publicized the priests’ returns to ministry by stating that a review board had examined the claims and found them to be “not substantiated.”
Diocese officials maintain that the review process is rigorous, independent and designed to protect children from potential abuse.
Accusers and their attorneys aren’t convinced, and they worry that some priests are being publicly exonerated and put back into contact with children without a thorough and impartial investigation into abuse claims.
They point out that in some cases a priest was returned to ministry, even though his accuser wasn't interviewed as part of an investigation.
The most recent reinstatement of a priest was in July, when Bishop Michael W. Fisher restored the faculties of the Rev. Raymond A. Donohue, who was accused in a Child Victims Act lawsuit and a confidential bankruptcy claim. Donohue denied the allegation.
The diocese said the plaintiff's attorney refused to allow an investigator to interview his client.
Steve Boyd, the plaintiff's attorney, described the board as a “public relations wing of the diocese” that was created to “try and find ways to put priests back into ministry.”
“With regard to the transparency of this group, there just needs to be more,” Boyd said in an August court hearing. “Right now, it is a secret committee that does secret work, and we find out their findings later, without knowing anything about what their process is.”
A diocese spokesman declined to comment for this story about the review board's investigations and the bishop's decisions.
Dioceses across the country have put in place review boards to help bishops handle child sex abuse allegations.
But a national expert on child abuse prevention said the boards are not fully independent and often don’t get all the information they need to analyze cases of alleged abuse.
“The review boards are just another bureaucratic layer in my book,” said Marci Hamilton, founder and chief executive officer of Child USA, a nonprofit think tank organization based in Philadelphia. “Whereas what we really need is an in-depth investigation with all of the facts gathered. That’s really all the survivors are asking for. They really want the truth to come out.”
If law enforcement won’t investigate because criminal statutes of limitation have expired, dioceses might consider turning to an external review by independent experts who have no connection to the church, Hamilton said.
The Rev. Norbert F. Orsolits.
Buffalo Diocese's 1995 Priests' Pictorial Directory
Scandal erupted in 2018
The diocese has faced intense scrutiny over its handling of abuse allegations since a retired priest, the Rev. Norbert Orsolits, admitted to The News in 2018 that he had molested probably dozens of boys earlier in his priesthood.
The admissions prompted a snowball of complaints against priests, a program to compensate victims, state and federal investigations into the diocese, and hundreds of civil lawsuits.
The diocese responded in 2018 by hiring a former FBI agent to examine abuse complaints. A group of lay people pushing for reforms also recommended in 2019 that the diocese make its review board a more independent body and hire additional sex abuse investigators.
In a dozen cases since 2018 where an allegation against a priest was substantiated, the diocese took steps to permanently remove the priest from ministry.
The diocese in most instances has given no explanations about how or why the review board arrives at its conclusions, nor has it made public details of investigations into allegations.
The News did obtain a copy of an investigator's report into accusations of abuse against the Rev. Roy Herberger that deemed the allegations "completely false" and cited a litany of inconsistencies in the accuser's version of events. Attorney Scott F. Riordan, a former prosecutor, spent six months investigating the case. Herberger ultimately was restored to full ministry and sued the accuser for defamation.
The Rev. Roy Herberger on Jan. 22, 2020, sued a man who had accused him of sexually abusing him as a child in a Child Victims Act case. Herberger says he did not abuse the man and sued him for defamation. Derek Gee/News file photo
Several other priests who were permanently removed from ministry due to allegations the diocese says were substantiated through an investigation maintain their innocence and claim they were falsely accused.
The diocese has publicly identified 85 priests since 1950 who had substantiated abuse claims, and another 23 priests who were part of religious orders and served in the diocese at some point since 1950. A 2021 News analysis of CVA lawsuits found that 230 priests who served in the Buffalo diocese were accused of abuse.
The diocese has a contract with multiple lawyers to do the investigative work, the results of which are forwarded to the review board, a group that currently includes a retired state Appellate Court judge, a retired M&T Bank vice president, a licensed clinical social worker and a pediatrician, among others, all of whom are Catholic. The review board makes a written recommendation to Fisher, who ultimately decides whether to reinstate a priest.
The diocese has pledged to investigate all abuse allegations as part of efforts to comply with the New York State Attorney General’s Office, which sued the diocese in 2020 over its handling of accused priests. Investigators attempt to interview any accuser who makes a credible claim against a priest, diocese officials have said.
Accusers in some cases have spoken with the diocese’s investigator, but several have refused, often out of mistrust of the diocese and fear lawyers will try to use the statements against them later.
Buffalo Diocese's 1995 Priests' Pictorial Directory
Diocese wanted to ID accuser
At least four priests were cleared of an abuse allegation by the review board and bishop only to face a second allegation after their suspensions were lifted.
One of those priests, the Rev. John Sardina, 90, was suspended from ministry in 2018 and returned in 2019 upon an investigation determining the claims were not substantiated.
The diocese is now investigating a second allegation involving Sardina, and its lawyers asked for a court order to help their inquiry, which Chief Judge Carl L. Bucki recently denied.
Lawyers for the diocese wanted Bucki to allow the release of the name of a woman who accused Sardina of abusing her as a child 50 years ago.
The woman, 61, filed a Child Victims Act lawsuit in State Supreme Court in 2019 and made a claim in the diocese’s federal bankruptcy case. In both instances, she used a pseudonym, LG36. State Supreme Court and federal bankruptcy court typically require public disclosure of interested parties, but both courts have allowed for modifications given the sensitivity of information about abuse victims.
The woman alleged in the lawsuit that Sardina sexually assaulted her after she participated in the sacrament of confession with the priest. The abuses are alleged to have happened from 1969 to 1971 when Sardina was assigned to Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Buffalo.
Sardina denied sexually abusing a minor in court papers answering the plaintiff’s complaint. He denied abusing any children in a 2019 interview with WIVB-TV, as well, although he said he had consensual sex with women and church officials sent him to counseling for that years ago.
The diocese’s lawyers said they reached out to the woman’s attorney for permission to tell Sardina her name so that they could properly investigate the claims. Receiving no response, the diocese filed a motion with Bucki to force the issue.
A lawyer for the diocese told Bucki that the diocese was stuck between a rock and a hard place as it tries to adhere to a sound process for investigating a claim.
“This is solely about the protection of children and determining whether priests are fit for ministry in any form,” said Sara C. Temes, the diocese attorney. “Their hands are completely tied when they can’t even tell the clergy member the name of the accused.”
Archdiocese ordered to halt payments to priests accused of child sex abuse
A U.S. bankruptcy judge rejected the Catholic church's argument that it should
be allowed to keep paying monthly stipends to staff accused of sexual abuse.
Gosh! Shouldn't paedophile priests be allowed to retire in comfort while their victims struggle through their lives?
Author: By David Hammer / Eyewitness Investigator / 4WWL
Published: 4:29 PM CDT September 8, 2022
NEW ORLEANS — A federal bankruptcy judge has ordered the Archdiocese of New Orleans to stop paying retirement benefits to five priests who have been accused of sexually abusing minors or vulnerable adults but are not included on a list of more than 70 clergy the local church considers “credibly accused.”
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Grabill issued the order Aug. 31, rejecting the local Catholic church’s argument that it should be allowed to keep paying monthly stipends to priests, deacons and lay staff who face claims of sexual abuse in sealed documents that were turned over to the court by the Archdiocese earlier this year.
From the very beginning of its bankruptcy case in May 2020, the Archdiocese tried to argue that it needed protection from dozens of pending sexual abuse lawsuits, but it should be allowed to keep paying retirement benefits to all living clergy – including those on the “credibly accused list” released by Archbishop Gregory Aymond in November 2018 and updated with additional names over the years since.
Grabill quickly ruled in 2020 that living clergy on the Archdiocese’s official list should not continue to get stipends known as “maintenance” payments, although medical coverage could continue. But she has now taken what she called an “extraordinary” step to amend that ruling based on evidence provided by the Archdiocese this year.
In February 2022, Grabill ordered the church to produce additional internal records from the past 10 years, “including, but not limited to, personnel files, Archdiocesan Review Board … findings, and law enforcement referrals, maintained by any and all departments and offices within the Archdiocese — related to all Archdiocesan priests or lay persons serving in ministerial roles that have been accused of sexual abuse, whether placed by the Archbishop on the Credibly Accused List or not and whether named in a proof of claim filed in this case or not.”
Those records were filed with the court under seal. But when attorneys representing sexual abuse victims saw those records, they argued they “substantiate credible accusations of sexual abuse committed by five priests” who were never included by Aymond on the credibly accused list and, therefore, continued to receive full retirement benefits.
Grabill says those payments must now stop, essentially finding that those priests must wait in line for their claims to be paid just like the abuse victims and other church creditors.
“We continue to evaluate the court’s decision in this matter but currently have no other comment,” the Archdiocese said in a statement.
The five priests whose retirement stipends must end are not named. WWL-TV and The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate teamed up on investigations in 2020 and 2021 that exposed claims against living priests and clergy who were not on the credibly accused list. Aymond added a few names to that list, but others featured in the news reports were never added.
Those include Metairie deacon VM Wheeler, who was criminally charged in December with molesting a preteen boy in the early 2000s, and the Rev. Luis Fernandez, who is retired in South Florida and declined to answer WWL-TV’s questions about one of his former high school students accusing him of molesting him in the 1970s.
The church tried to argue that its responsibility to take care of retired priests and deacons is not governed by U.S. federal law but by the Catholic Church’s own laws, known as canon law. It argued that clergy would only lose their retirement benefits if they were laicized -- or stripped of their ordination as priests or deacons. Aymond told WWL-TV that he could remove priests and deacons from ministry, but he couldn’t forcibly laicize those who don’t voluntarily agree to leave the priesthood or deaconate. That could only be done by the Vatican.
Grabill rejected the Archdiocese’s argument that she was overstepping her authority.
Burnaby RCMP open sexual assault investigation into
notorious Christian Brother
Edward English moved from N.L. to B.C. after abusing boys at St. John's orphanage
Ryan Cooke ·
CBC News ·
Posted: Sep 22, 2022 6:00 AM NT
Edward English — a Christian Brothers teacher who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for beating and sexually assaulting boys at the Mount Cashel orphanage in St. John's — is the subject of a new police investigation in British Columbia.
Burnaby RCMP have confirmed a complaint was lodged on Aug. 25, and relates to allegations of abuse at a Catholic private school between 1978 and 1982.
While the force would not identify the subject of the investigation, a source with knowledge of the complaint confirmed English, now 74, is the teacher in question.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," English said when contacted by a CBC reporter on Wednesday. "I'm not going to comment on something if I don't know anything about it."
The reporter offered to walk him through the allegations, but he declined, saying "no comment," before hanging up.
A source identified the complainant as a man who is part of a proposed class-action lawsuit in British Columbia. The lawsuit alleges a pair of Catholic private schools and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver allowed six known child abusers to move from St. John's to the Vancouver area, where they continued preying on children.
In a sworn affidavit in the proposed class-action lawsuit, the man — known only as John A. Doe — said English repeatedly molested him during his time as a student at St. Thomas More Collegiate, a Grade 8-12 school in Burnaby, just outside Vancouver.
"The abuse I suffered as a boy has had a profound effect on my faith, my health, and my personal relationships," the man wrote. "I have told my immediate family about it but I have not shared it with others who are close to me, my employer or my work colleagues. I have not reached and may never reach the point where I am prepared to share my identity with the general public."
The allegations set forth in his affidavit have yet to be tested in court.
English moved as part of infamous coverup
Edward English became a household name in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1989, when news broke about what had really been happening at the Mount Cashel Orphanage for decades.
A judicial inquiry revealed that two boys accused English of abusing them in 1975, and that English had even confessed to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.
The biggest bombshell of the inquiry, however, was that a deal had been struck between the Christian Brothers organization, the police and the Newfoundland and Labrador Justice Department. English and five other brothers accused of abusing children were quietly moved out of the province around 1975, and no charges were laid.
In 2021, the Archdiocese of St. John's was found liable for decades of abuse at Mount Cashel, pictured here in 1996, and had to declare bankruptcy and sell churches as a result. (CBC)
The Christian Brothers also owned a K-12 school, Vancouver College and St. Thomas More Collegiate. All six brothers landed at those two schools.
By the time the revelations came to light, English and the others had been teaching in British Columbia for more than a decade.
John A. Doe now wants to know how that was allowed to happen.
"I seek accountability for the harm that was done to me by Brother English," he wrote. "Specifically, I want to know how it is that he was allowed to teach at St. Thomas More after having admitted to sexually abusing boys at Mount Cashel."
English investigated in B.C. before
Criminal charges were laid in Newfoundland and Labrador after the Hughes Inquiry. All six of the brothers moved to B.C. were eventually convicted on varying charges of abuse.
But none were ever charged with crimes stemming from their time in B.C., despite allegations now coming to light that their abusive behaviours continued after the coverup was finalized.
A spokesperson for the RCMP in Burnaby confirmed this isn't their first investigation into English. Cpl. Alexa Hodgins said the force conducted an investigation in 2000, related to allegations of a teacher abusing children at St. Thomas More between 1978 and 1982. Hodgins said the file "concluded in early 2001, without charges at the request of the victim."
The complainant was not John A. Doe, but Hodgins said the subject of both investigations was the same person, meaning it had to be Edward English.
For his part, Doe's affidavit states he went to the Burnaby RCMP a few years after leaving St. Thomas More Collegiate, but wasn't aware of any action taken by police after he gave his statement. According to Hodgins, there was no record of a complaint prior to 2000.
English remained in N.B. after prison term
Of all the convictions stemming from Mount Cashel, English received the stiffest punishment.
He was found guilty on 15 counts of physical and sexual abuse and initially sentenced to 13 years in prison. That was later reduced on appeal to 10 years. He was released after serving 5½ years behind bars and granted full parole.
He was released to a halfway house in New Brunswick, and public records show he's remained in the Moncton area ever since, most recently living in a small home on a country road south of Moncton.
According to documents obtained by CBC News, English filed for bankruptcy in 2020. The proceedings were finalized in January 2021, one month before he was named in the proposed class-action lawsuit in Vancouver.
The bankruptcy records show he operated a company called T. English Enterprises. There's little information on the company in Canadian records searches, but according to U.S. customs records, a company called Ted English Enterprises with a Moncton address was responsible for importing religious ornaments from China.
English has been attending proceedings in the proposed class action by video conference from his home in New Brunswick.
Certification hearings were stalled in August as all parties grappled with admissibility of new evidence. Hearings are expected to wrap up in November, and the judge will rule on whether the case proceeds as a class action or as a series of individual lawsuits.
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