New Orleans archdiocese agrees to release
secret files on clergy accused of child sexual abuse
Move follows church’s 2020 bankruptcy filing, hundreds of allegations and a standoff with survivors
In a gesture of reconciliation to victims of its decades-old clergy molestation scandal, the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans has tentatively agreed to publicly release the confidential personnel files of priests and deacons faced with substantial allegations of child sexual abuse.
Church officials on Thursday announced the plan to disclose clergy files as one of several non-monetary commitments in the US’s second-oldest Catholic archdiocese efforts to settle a costly federal bankruptcy reorganization first filed in 2020.
The church and more than 500 clergy abuse survivors remain miles apart on the monetary terms of a potential bankruptcy settlement. In September, the church’s attorneys proposed that the archdiocese and its affiliates – but not their insurers – should pay about $125,000 to each sexual abuse claimant. A committee of survivors countered that the church, its affiliates and its insurers should pony up $2m to each claimant.
The federal bankruptcy judge directed them to reach an agreement by late January, with the church already having spent more than $40m in fees for attorneys and professional advisers.
Of course, by the time they are done, legal fees and advisers fees will exceed the $62.5 mn they were willing to pay the victims.
For much more on this story please continue reading on The Guardian at:
Child sex abuse committed by priests,
abetted by corporates, goes unpunished
THE most recent case of alleged child sexual abuse by a Catholic priest is detailed in a court filing that indicts Fr. Serlito Villar of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Poblacion, Alegria, Cebu, for lascivious conduct toward and rape of an 11-year-old boy.
The indictment, filed in Regional Trial Court Branch 62 in Oslob, Cebu, by the no-nonsense and determined Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Julius Torreon Ompad, backed up by Provincial Prosecutor Ludivico Vistal Cutaran, listed five counts of rape with sexual assault and one count of lascivious conduct.
According to the victim's testimony, these acts of violent sexual assault allegedly took place over two years in the church rectory, before and after serving in Masses. Four of the alleged heinous crimes were committed between Feb. 12, 2022, and April 27, 2023. Another was committed at Cuestas Resort in Malabago village, according to the indictment, which reads like a handbook of child rape from hell — certainly a terrible one for the 11-year-old who wants justice and the abuse to stop.
Fr. Vilar failed to attend the pretrial hearing on Nov. 5, 2024. His lawyer successfully pleaded to postpone the hearing until April 2025. The accused, despite the gravity of the offenses, is not detained, as he paid the P1.2-million bail — P200,000 for each count. The priest, through his lawyer, denied all the charges.
It is well-known that such delaying tactics by the defense give the accused and his accomplices time to pressure the child victim to withdraw his complaint and settle out of court with his relatives. Some child victims, due to a long and drawn-out trial, experience fatigue and give up when they are not supported.
For more on this case please go to The Manila Times and continue reading at:
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