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Belgian Authorities Raid Catholic Church Offices for Sexual Abuse

Chad Franks — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:16:00 GMT

Belgian Catholic Church Offices Raided in Abuse Inquiry

By STEPHEN CASTLE and NICHOLAS KULISH

Published: June 24, 2010

New York Times, BRUSSELS — Belgian authorities heightened pressure on the Roman Catholic Church in a sex-abuse scandal on Thursday, raiding the Belgian church headquarters, the home of a former archbishop and the offices of a commission established by the church to handle abuse complaints.

Police arrived at the church headquarters, the palace of the archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, on Thursday morning while the monthly bishops meeting was in progress, a church spokesman said, questioning all of those present, from bishops down to staff members such as cooks and drivers.

“It was half-past 10,” said Eric de Beukelaer, a spokesman for the Belgian archbishop, André-Joseph Léonard. “The police came in and said the house would be searched because there were complaints about sexual abuse on the territory of the archdiocese.” Mr. de Beukelaer said that he was present during the raid and that his cellphone was temporarily confiscated by police.

The search continued until after 7 p.m., Mr. de Beukelaer said. No arrests were made, nor were any charges announced.

The authorities are investigating accusations that members of the Belgian clergy sexually abused children, according to officials. Hundreds of such claims have been raised in Belgium since April, when the Bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, a popular figure here, admitted to molesting a boy and resigned.

The authorities’ decision to search church property, question bishops and seize documents and other potential evidence represented a major departure in such investigations and a sign that in criminal matters the church will not be afforded special treatment here. This sort of activity “Is extremely rare, very rare, especially in the house of a cardinal,” said Andrea Tornielli, a Vatican expert at the Italian daily Il Giornale. “It’s enormous.”

Although the raids took place during a meeting of senior clerics, a spokesman for the Brussels prosecutor’s office, Jean-Marc Meilleur, said that the timing was a coincidence.

The head of the commission established by the church in 2000 to handle abuse complaints, Peter Adriaenssens, criticized the police for taking the entire stock of records the commission had accumulated, saying he was “appalled” by the raid, according to a Dutch Web site, Het Nieuwsblad.

At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Mr. Adriaenssens, a child psychiatrist and leading Belgian expert on child abuse, said that some of those people who had contacted the commission had done so in confidence and were now worried about who would have access to their statements. He said that the commission had been inundated with calls and e-mail messages from those who had made complaints about abuse.

“We have no idea why this was done,” Mr Adriaenssens said, adding that his impression was that “in recent months a form of paranoia has developed.”

Cases of sexual abuse of minors have added resonance in Belgium because of the notorious Belgian pedophile Marc Dutroux, who was convicted six years ago of child murder, kidnap and rape. Government officials came under significant criticism for mishandling the Dutroux case, which could account for the aggressive response.

Barbara Dorris, outreach director for the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said in a statement that the raid was “precisely what’s needed, not just in Belgium but in other church offices across the globe.”

“Law enforcement officials must stop giving the Catholic hierarchy a ‘free pass’ when it comes to clergy sex crimes and cover-ups,” Ms. Dorris said. “Police and prosecutors need to step up, and promptly and thoroughly investigate allegations against predator priests and corrupt bishops, and use their full powers to gain access to and control over church records that likely document the crimes and cover-ups.”

The Belgian television station RTL reported the raid on the home of Cardinal Godfried Danneels, who retired in January as Belgium’s archbishop, saying that his computer had been removed. Mr. Tornielli, the Vatican expert, noted that to the best of his knowledge, Cardinal Danneels would have diplomatic immunity as a Vatican official, and would have to have given his permission for police to search his home.

The Vatican had no comment on the searches in Belgium.

“As for the procedure, the bishops have always said we trust justice in making its work, and we don’t have any further comment that we have today,” Mr. de Beukelaer, the archbishop’s spokesman, said.

Reforming the Statute of Limitations for Child Sex Abuse: New York's Child Victims Act Shouldn't Be Political, But It Is

Chad Franks — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:25:00 GMT

FindLaw.com
June 10, 2010

By Marci Hamilton, Esq. hamilton02@aol.com

Last week, the New York Child Victims Act (available at http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S5893A) was defeated in the Senate Codes Committee. For New York's children, it was a choice that favors child predators, and therefore a bad day. However, it was an interesting session and the bill will be re-introduced next session -- and every session until it is passed, according to sponsors Assemblywoman Marge Markey and Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson. The only impact is that child predators have one more year to operate under the anonymity afforded by New York's extremely short statutes of limitations for child sex abuse.

The bill embodies the same type of statute of limitations ("SOL") reform that I've advocated in multiple columns here at FindLaw, and in my book Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children. It would create a short 5-year extension for criminal and civil SOLs for child sex abuse, and it would open a "window" of one year for all past victims to come forward without having to worry about expired statutes of limitations. The extension is too short in my view, but the window is absolutely crucial to identifying child predators.

As I've explained, such reform is the only tried-and-true method for identifying hidden child perpetrators, as the enactment of the legislation establishing the California SOL window proved. In this column, I'll further discuss New York's continuing experience with reform for children.

The Recent History of the New York CVA

After the CVA thrice passed in the New York Assembly, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told the Senate that he would be more than willing to get the bill to the floor in the Assembly again, but first, it needs to be passed by the Senate.

Thus, the Senate's Codes Committee was the first stop. As noted above, the CVA was voted upon there, and lost last week. However, the CVA never even made it into a committee meeting when now-convicted Sen. Joseph Bruno was the Senate Majority Leader, so the fact that the bill even got a vote in a Senate Committee was history itself.

This legislation for child protection should have been a no-brainer. Instead, it has become thoroughly political. Reportedly, New York Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos ordered Republicans to vote against it in a bloc, and they did so in Committee -- even those who had told survivors they favored the bill and would vote for it.

If there had been any doubt about the source of the most virulent opposition to the bill, Senator Lanza made it crystal clear: It continues to be the Catholic Conference. Lanza basically spoke from their playbook, claiming that giving child-sex-abuse victims the ability to go to Court would "ruin" the Church, and that the introduction of the bill was driven by anti-Catholic animus. He became quite passionate, insisting that no one was going to "destroy my church." Sen. Flanagan, too, took his cue from the Catholic Conference, claiming (inaccurately) that the same bill has bankrupted the Church in California.

In sharp contrast, the hero of the day for children was Chair Eric Schneiderman, who, in measured tones, stated that the issue was a hard one, but in the United States, those who are harmed should have a remedy. With respect to New York's child-sex-abuse victims, the vast majority have been blocked from receiving any remedy at all because of overly-short SOLs. (The lack of such remedies not only leaves the victim without justice, but also allows known perpetrators to continue to enjoy secrecy and impunity.)

Schneiderman also responded to Senator Flanagan, correctly pointing out that the Church was not, in fact, bankrupted in California. Indeed, the only California diocese to bring voluntary bankruptcy proceedings was the San Diego Diocese, which was publicly chastised by the bankruptcy judge for misleading her about the extent of its impressive wealth. No services were cut, and no parishes or schools were closed because the victims created by the Church were permitted to go to court.

In the Codes Committee, three Democrats joined the Republicans in voting against letting the bill go to the floor, though none appeared at the Committee meeting, voting only in absentia. Sen. Shirley Huntley, whose website claims she has been a strong advocate for children, was a particular disappointment. Sen. Breslin, who is Catholic, and Sen. Jeff Klein also voted against SOL reform.

Legislators Who Seem to Care More About the Vandalism of Property than the Well-Being of Children

Here is where New York politics waltzed into Alice in Wonderland territory: Mere days after the Codes Committee killed the CVA this session, Sen. Jeff Klein -- one of a number of Senators who couldn't be bothered to show up for the Codes Committee vote on the CVA -- joined Archbishop Timothy Dolan and other religious leaders to tout S.1909, (available at http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/api/1.0/html/bill/S1909), which increases the criminal penalties for vandalism of church and synagogue properties.

Klein, who was recently embroiled in an alleged pay-to-play scandal when he was caught selling $50,000 "exclusive meetings" to special interest groups, apparently has taken an active role in fighting against the vandalism of church walls. According to the Yonkers Insider, " In February of this year, Senator Klein helped clean up graffiti on the rectory wall of Saint Francis Xavier Church in Morris Park in the Bronx. Saint Francis Xavier Pastor Father Matthew Fiore reached out to Senator Klein's office after finding the graffiti on the rectory wall on the first floor of the church on the morning of Friday, February 19th. Within 24 hours of the Pastor contacting Klein's office, Senator Klein and his graffiti clean-up crew went to the church to remove the graffiti."

To quote one of the victims of incest who has been fighting for the CVA, in light of Klein's indifference to child-sex-abuse victims, his swiftness in addressing church graffiti issues was like a "kick in the gut." Recently, all one hears about is the mishandling of child sex abuse within the Catholic Church worldwide. Yet somehow, in New York, the Catholic Conference was capable of stifling all child-sex-abuse victims' claims and, at the very same time, obtaining for itself additional penalties against those who damage its property. You don't have to be a genius to figure out that the New York Catholic Conference is putting property ahead of children's safety in light of these two developments, spanning just two days!

New York's Archbishop Has Proven Himself Indifferent to Children's Victimization

How could New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan be so tone-deaf that he would create the circumstances for such an unflattering and, frankly, unChristian, pairing of issues? Didn't Jesus throw out the moneychangers from the temple and threaten all who harmed the little ones? Once again, the Catholic bishops lack any sense of how what they do resonates with child-sex-abuse victims. They are persistently indifferent.

This incapacity for empathy with victims of priests was further underscored last week by the Pope, when he included Dolan on the committee of bishops that is charged with looking into the Irish child-sex-abuse situation. From a child-sex-abuse victim's perspective, what has Dolan done so far? As the Archbishop of Milwaukee -- his former post -- he succeeded in keeping the secrets of the Milwaukee Archdiocese by killing CVA reform when he was there. And now, he has succeeded on the same score in New York. One victim after another has blogged that putting Dolan on such a committee is the equivalent of letting the fox guard the henhouse. Some of them were even sharper in their language—describing the decision as a move that charged the fox with guarding the little chicks in the henhouse, easy pickings.

Currently, New York has one of the stingiest statutes of limitations for child sex abuse in the entire country -- 18 years-old for criminal charges and 23 for civil claims. In the future, it is inevitable that New York will radically expand these statutes of limitations for child sex abuse, because justice demands it, and because that is the trend in the entire country. Florida just eliminated all of its statutes of limitations for child sex abuse; Delaware did the same thing in 2007; Connecticut gives victims until age 48; Pennsylvania until age 53; New Jersey has a liberal discovery rule (which New York courts rejected, saying it was an issue for the legislature). Thus, the Catholic Conferences have their fingers in a dike that is crumbling around their hands. Yet it seems that they will keep those fingers in place as long as the bishops' lobbying dollars last, and as long as New York Senate members like Sens. Klein, Lanza, and Flanagan continue to act as they did last week.

Research establishes that one in four girls, and one in five boys, are sexually abused. Not only clergy child-sex-abuse victims, but incest victims too, are increasingly demanding their day in court, and the kind of statute-of-limitations reform that would make that possible. And there are a lot more incest victims than there are clergy victims. As society increasingly acknowledges the gravity and scope of the child-sex-abuse problem, and comes to understand the scientific studies showing that victims often need decades to come forward, citizens will demand laws that fit the needs of the victims, not the perpetrators or the institutions that assigned child abusers to work with children. Given the vital role of SOL reform in identifying perpetrators and creating justice for victims, and the growing political will of the victims, we may soon see New York legislators losing -- not holding -- seats when they let party leadership and the bishops drown out the voices of the victims.

Marci Hamilton, a FindLaw columnist, is the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and author of Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children (Cambridge 2008). A review of Justice Denied appeared on this site on June 25, 2008. Her previous book is God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law (Cambridge University Press 2005), now available in paperback. Her email is hamilton02@aol.com.

Archdiocese of Los Angeles: Insufficient evidence found to charge cardinal

Franks LLC — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:20:00 GMT

DA: Insufficient evidence found to charge cardinal

By GILLIAN FLACCUS (AP) – 16 hours ago

LOS ANGELES — An eight-year investigation into how the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles handled clergy abuse cases suggests "the possibility of criminal culpability" by members of the archdiocese leadership, but investigators don't have enough evidence to file charges, a lead prosecutor wrote in a memo provided Wednesday.

The investigation of alleged sex abuse by priests remains active, but a criminal conspiracy case against archdiocese officials was "more and more remote" because of the passage of time, Deputy District Attorney William Hodgman said in the May 26 memo.

Investigators have insufficient evidence to fill in a timeline stretching over 20 years and are hampered by the statute of limitations, wrote Hodgman, who did not name any church leaders by name in the sections of the three-page memo that were not redacted.

The district attorney's office subpoenaed documents from the archdiocese and hoped to use the material to build more cases, but the effort was stymied by reluctant victims and insufficient evidence to corroborate what was in the documents, the memo said.

The memo was released in response to questions about District Attorney Steve Cooley's handling of the priest abuse investigation, which began in 2002. Cooley is in the final week of a campaign to become the Republican nominee for California attorney general.

Cardinal Roger Mahony has come under fire for his handling of several abusive priests during his tenure in the Los Angeles archdiocese and agreed to pay $660 million in 2007 to more than 500 alleged clergy abuse victims.

A federal grand jury is also probing the archdiocese's handling of the scandal and has subpoenaed a former Los Angeles priest convicted of child molestation and a monsignor who served as vicar for clergy under Mahony.

Mahony's attorney Michael Hennigan has said the cardinal was not a target of the investigation. Hennigan did not immediately return a call Wednesday seeking comment.

Hodgman's memo only refers to the church hierarchy. It does not name Mahony as a subject of its investigation.

Archdiocese spokesman Tod Tamberg said he had not seen the memo. Still, any suggestion of criminal wrongdoing by Mahony or others in the church leadership was false, he said.

"Our documents and actions have been scrutinized for nearly 10 years by judges and investigators, and numerous archdiocesan officials have spent hundreds of hours answering questions under oath," he said.

"While Cardinal Mahony has said that mistakes were made in dealing with individual cases of abuse in past decades, no facts have established that these mistakes were anything other than mistakes," Tamberg said.

Prosecutors have won convictions against six priests since 2002 and were forced to dismiss 11 cases in 2003 after the U.S. Supreme Court found a law that extended the statute of limitations in some sex abuse cases was unconstitutional.

Investigators are currently pursuing a case against another priest, the memo said.

Clergy abuse victims reacted angrily to Hodgman's findings and accused Cooley of not doing enough to crack down on the archdiocese and Mahony.

"We know church officials and church lawyers are extremely shrewd. Still, it's boggling that Cooley can't find a single member of the hundreds of the Los Angeles archdiocesan staff who can be charged," Barbara Dorris, outreach director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. said in a prepared statement.

Mahony, 74, will retire next year. His replacement, Archbishop Jose Gomez, was welcomed to the archdiocese in a special Mass last week and will serve alongside Mahony until his retirement.

For 5th Year, Child Sex Abuse Bill Dies in Legislature

Chad Franks — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:00:00 GMT

For 5th Year, Child Sex Abuse Bill Dies in Legislature

By PAUL VITELLO

Published: June 2, 2010

New York Times
For four years, advocates for sexually abused children had fought a battle in the New York Legislature to open a legal window that would allow victims to file lawsuits against predators long after the statute of limitations had expired.

Though the bill died each year, it passed in the Assembly three timesand earned the support of two governors. And the renewed attention to sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church augured well for the cause this year.

Yet on Wednesday, in its fifth year on the legislative calendar, the bill, known as the Child Victims Act, was defeated in a Senate committee in the first vote on the measure this session.

Legislators on both sides agreed that the 9-to-6 vote by the panel, the Senate Codes Committee, had doomed the legislation for the remainder of the session. They offered different perspectives, however, on the vote’s larger meaning for the bill, which proposes a one-time, one-year suspension of the statute of limitations for sex abuse lawsuits.

“We knew we didn’t have the votes, but we felt it was important to keep it on the public agenda,” said State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, a Democrat who represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester County and who is the bill’s sponsor in the Senate. “Whether it is adopted this year or next year is less important than reminding victims that there are people out here trying to bring justice for them.”

Dennis Poust, the communications director of the New York State Catholic Conference, said the vote represented an emerging consensus that time limits on legal liability were an important civil rights protection. The conference is the policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops, the bill’s most formidable opponents.

“You cannot ask institutions to take responsibility for the failures of a few individuals whose actions took place 40 and 50 years ago,” Mr. Poust said.

Assemblywoman Margaret Markey, a Queens Democrat who wrote the legislation and has been its chief advocate, said that in one sense the vote on Wednesday represented progress. “Our bill has never even come to a vote before in the Senate,” she said. “So we feel this was an important step.”

Since it was first introduced in the 2006-7 session, the Child Victims Act has been fervently opposed by the Catholic Church and several Orthodox Jewish groups, which saw potentially devastating financial implications in opening an opportunity for victims, regardless of age, to bring lawsuits for sexual abuse suffered in childhood.

Last year, in an attempt to blunt complaints from the religious groups that they were being singled out, the bill was amended to make public institutions like schools equally liable.

That amendment did not win any new support for the bill, but it earned the opposition of powerful groups like the New York State School Boards Association, the New York Council of School Superintendents, the New York Association of Counties and the New York Conference of Mayors.

Still, some advocates for abuse victims had expressed hope before Wednesday that recent revelations about leniency shown by high Roman Catholic officials — including then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI — to abusive priests might attract new public support for the legislation.

“I think it actually did increase public support, but that does not always translate into legislative remedy,” said David Clohessy, the executive director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

Mr. Clohessy said the vote ended efforts this year in three states to pass laws suspending the statute of limitations for a limited period in sex abuse cases. Similar bills have already been defeated in Arizona and Wisconsin.

California and Delaware are the only states to have adopted such legislation, though similar laws have been proposed in about 15 states since 2002, he said.

On Wednesday, all seven Republicans on the Codes Committee and two of the nine Democrats voted no. Senator Jeffrey D. Klein of the Bronx and Westchester, one of the Democrats who opposed the measure, said he doubted that exposing institutions to lawsuits would solve the problem of sex abuse by their employees.

Instead, he said, he had proposed a law to remove the statute of limitations on criminal prosecution of individuals accused of abusing minors. “I want to address the problem, but not civilly,” he said.

The other Democrat who voted no was Senator Neil D. Breslin of Albany. Senator Shirley L. Huntley, a Democrat from Queens, voted “no recommendation.”

Clergy Abuse Files Allowed Secrecy

Franks LLC — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:49:00 GMT

A Secrecy Fetish

District Attorney Kamala Harris is going too far in protecting Catholic pedophiles.

By Matt Smith Wednesday, Jun 2 2010

Was Kamala Harris merely sloppy when she failed to disclose a crime lab scandal and the criminal backgrounds of police who were trial witnesses? Or does she have a policy of "When in doubt, keep secrets"?

SF Weekly's attempts to obtain her office's files on Catholic clergy abuse under the state Public Records Act suggest Harris favors concealment over transparency.

The records at issue may contain answers to a question of great public concern that has consumed international headlines during recent weeks: What did senior Catholic officials know, and what did they do behind the scenes, while priests accused of molesting children were shielded from punishment?

Cardinal William Levada was archbishop of San Francisco until 2005. He is now a top Vatican official and the Holy See's most prominent defender of Pope Benedict XVI against allegations that the pontiff has failed to adequately deal with pedophile priests. In San Francisco, Levada was known as a key architect of the church's practice of keeping abuse allegations secret, protecting abusive priests, and punishing church whistleblowers.

Portions of this record came to light in stories by then–SF Weekly staff writer Ron Russell in 2005 and in a May 5 story in The New York Times that recounted elements of Russell's reporting. By sifting through documents made public as a result of lawsuits, Russell learned that during the 1990s and 2000s, Levada helped keep allegations against pedophile priests shrouded in secrecy. Alleged abusers included Salesian Brother Salvatore Billante, who police alleged had sexual relations with at least 24 children, but charges were dropped after the California Supreme Court overturned a state law extending the statute of limitations for pedophiles. And so the full contents of archdiocese clergy abuse files obtained by prosecutors were never revealed at trial.

Relatively unscathed by his San Francisco legacy, now-Cardinal Levada is the chief Vatican official charged with responding to global allegations of clergy abuse.

"Given Levada's current role overseeing pedophile priests and cover-up cases across the globe," said David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), "it is more important than ever that parents and citizens and Catholics learn exactly what he did in San Francisco."

District Attorney Kamala Harris possesses San Francisco Archdiocese files containing details of how the church dealt with pedophile priests that go back as far as 80 years.

But Harris, the frontrunner in the June primary elections to become the Democratic candidate for California attorney general, has for five years rebuffed reporters' efforts to view those files, despite statements by former DA Terence Hallinan saying they should be released.

For the past six weeks, SF Weekly has asked Harris' office to comply with the request under the California Public Records Act. It has released nothing.

A prosecutor must be careful not to release records that might undermine an investigation, unfairly malign the innocent, or expose victims to publicity they don't want. But in this case Harris' office seems to be going beyond these important principles to a blanket policy of secrecy.

It's worth recalling that Harris was recently lambasted by a judge for hiding the extent of an evidence-handling scandal at the San Francisco Police Department crime lab, and for ignoring her constitutional obligation to turn over to defense attorneys the criminal histories of police testifying at trial.

Did Harris merely misinterpret the law? Or does she have a penchant for secrecy?

On April 21, just as controversy was heating up over the Vatican's role in the global sex abuse scandal, Harris' deputy, Paul Henderson, responded to my request by stating that Harris' investigative files were not subject to California's government transparency laws; her office essentially enjoys a blanket secrecy privilege.

I sent Henderson's arguments to California Newspaper Publishers Association legal counsel Jim Ewert. "That's flatly untrue," he said. The District Attorney's office "can release them if they want to. But they have decided not to."

I wrote to Harris' office citing Ewert's analysis. Harris' spokeswoman, Erica Derryck, changed course, saying they would retrieve and review the files to determine whether there were any I could view. Following half a dozen phone conversations and as many e-mail exchanges, Derryck said she would contact me on May 24, but I didn't hear from her. When I e-mailed and called her again, almost seven weeks after my initial request, she said she was still working on it. I have heard nothing more.

In lieu of releasing records, Harris' office ended up releasing a statement: "District Attorney Harris focuses her efforts on putting child molesters in prison. We're not interested in selling out our victims to look good in the paper. When this case was brought under Terence Hallinan, prosecutors took the utmost care to protect the identity and dignity of the victims. That was the right thing to do then and it's the right thing to do now."

This sort of statement drives abuse victims crazy. Joelle Casteix, western regional director of SNAP, was sexually abused as a child by a lay teacher at a Catholic school. She had to sue to obtain records pertaining to the incidents. She rejects Harris' rationale for keeping archdiocese abuse records secret. It's possible, even routine, to release records about pedophile priests while protecting the names of victims, Casteix explained.

"That's one of the most dangerous statements I've ever heard," she said. "The number one thing that gets predators off the street is transparency about predators. You can do that by releasing documents, and you can redact victims' names at the same time."

Joey Piscitelli, SNAP's northwest regional director, was more adamant in denouncing Harris' logic. "They're full of shit. You can quote me on that," he said. "They're not protecting the victims. They're protecting Levada."

Hallinan, who forced the archdiocese to turn over the records in 2002, and who pursued cases against priests before his office was barred from proceeding by expired statutes of limitations, sees no reason to keep the files secret: "Obviously, those things should be made public," he said in an interview.

Rick Simons, who has represented victims in clergy abuse cases, said Harris is notorious for refusing to respond to public records requests. He added that her office has refused to release records even of investigations into priests who have already been tried, convicted, jailed, and released.

Other district attorneys, such as Alameda County's Nancy O'Malley, have been far more forthcoming, particularly when it comes to exposing clergy who abuse children. Simons said that Harris' penchant for secrecy "shows a pattern and practice and policy of ignoring the rights of children by one of the largest institutions of the city and county of San Francisco, and in the Bay Area."

Kam Kuwata, campaign consultant to Los Angeles District Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, who faces Harris in the Democratic primary, said his boss also regards the matter differently. "We see no reason why transparency and protecting the victim cannot work hand in hand," he said.

This isn't the first time Harris has employed troubling logic to argue for keeping the archdiocese abuse files secret. In 2005, Russell also asked for the records. A Harris spokesman responded at the time by saying, "If we did it for you, we would have to do it for everybody. Where do you stop, and where do you start?"

California law is clear where you start: with the presumption that the people's business is public.

On March 27, Levada published an unusual 2,500-word essay on the Holy See's website, denouncing The New York Times for publishing clergy abuse stories he claimed did not sufficiently highlight the church's purported zeal in rooting out predatory priests.

"In 2002, I was appointed (at the time as Archbishop of San Francisco) to a team of four bishops to seek approval of the Holy See for the 'Essential Norms' that the American Bishops developed to allow us to deal with abuse questions," Levada wrote. "We found in Cardinal Ratzinger [the future Pope Benedict XVI], and in the experts he assigned to meet with us, a sympathetic understanding of the problems we faced as American bishops."

To people who have closely followed Levada's career, it seemed bizarre that he would mention his 2002 role in devising national Catholic clergy-abuse policies.

For help in this task, Levada enlisted his longtime ally, San Mateo cleric Father Gregory Ingels.

According to Russell's SF Weekly investigation, in 1996 Levada learned Ingels had been accused of sodomizing a 15-year-old boy. Yet Levada helped Ingels' career flourish, and supported Ingels' role as a top church policymaker even after learning of a second serious allegation of sexual abuse.

In Marin County, prosecutors assembled a sex abuse case against Ingels, using information drawn from the archdiocese files. But Ingels' case was thrown out because the statute of limitations had expired. Ultimately, the church agreed to settle one of the complaints by paying an alleged victim $2.7 million — and, in the process, sealing records similar to the ones Harris controls.

Nobody paid Harris to conceal the church's child abuse history, however. Rather, she simply seems to view secrecy as the path of least resistance, whether or not it's consistent with the public interest.

Dolan Named to Abuse Review Panel

Chad Franks — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:00:00 GMT

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan is one of nine Catholic prelates who have been assigned to investigate Irish priests' handling of sexual-abuse cases, the Vatican said yesterday.

The panel will seek to improve the Irish church's efforts to prevent sexual abuse. Although the scandal will be the prime aspect of the investigation, Dolan will focus on Irish seminaries and "all aspects of priestly formation," the Vatican said.

Last month, a government-sponsored report detailed how priests and nuns abused tens of thousands of Irish children sexually, physically and emotionally over six decades.

Priest Admits He Did Not Stop Abuse

Chad Franks — Sat, 22 May 2010 01:00:00 GMT

St. John's Abbey

Chad Franks — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:10:00 GMT

St. John's Abbey is accused of breaking a promise to the family of two boys allegedly abused by monk that he would not work with kids again.

By JEFF STRICKLER, Star Tribune
Last update: May 18, 2010 - 7:44 PM

St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., broke its promise that a monk accused of sexually abusing a 12- and a 14-year-old boy would be barred from working with children, a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Ramsey County Court alleges.

The latest clergy abuse suit filed by St. Paul lawyer Jeff Anderson involves the Rev. Raymond Francisco Schulte, 57, who was accused of abusing the boys in the mid-1980s and is now living in Rome, where his duties include leading school tours of religious landmarks.

The suit contends that the boys and their parents were assured that he would never return to regular duty. But the older victim, now 40, learned earlier this year that Schulte was restored to fully active duty in 2003, and his position occasionally provides him unsupervised access to children.

"This is very, very, very dangerous," said Anderson.

The abbey issued a statement that Schulte (who uses his middle name as his first name) worked there according to the "non-risk" limitations from 1984 to 2002. In 2002, he went to Italy after filing for a canonical leave. "Taking such a leave means that the superior of Saint John's Abbey does not have oversight over the monk," the statement says.

The suit was filed on behalf of two brothers who served as altar boys for Schulte when he was working in the Diocese of Raleigh, N.C. When Schulte moved to Minnesota, he talked the older brother into enrolling at St. John's Preparatory School, where the abuse allegedly continued.

In an interview after the suit was announced, the older brother said that both he and his brother have faced multiple problems, including substance abuse issues and divorces. He expressed anger that the man he blames for ruining their lives "is living the good life in one of the most beautiful cities in the world."

He said that he learned that Schulte had been restored to full duty from behindthepinecurtain.com, an online watchdog site that focuses on clergy sexual abuse. The site is run by Pat Marker, who used to be part of an external review board created by the abbey to investigate charges of abuse.

"When I heard that Schulte's name had been removed [from the restricted duty list], I couldn't believe it," Marker said. "His name was brought up again and again to the review board."

The statute of limitations has expired on the abuse charges. The suit charges Schulte, the abbey, the preparatory school and the Order of St. Benedict with fraud. It seeks unspecified damages plus payment of expenses for medical and psychological treatment. The older brother said that he also wants to keep Schulte away from young people.

"We were told that he would not be allowed to be around kids," he said. "There are other kids to protect."

Jeff Strickler 612-673-7392

The New York Child Victims Act

Chad Franks — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:00:00 GMT

Editorial
Justice for Child Abuse Victims
Published: May 14, 2010 by The New York Times

We urge the New York State Legislature to rise above intense lobbying by the New York State Catholic Conference and Orthodox Jewish officials and pass the overdue Child Victims Act. Like a similar measure enacted in 2003 by California, it would create a one-time, one-year suspension of the statute of limitations for bringing civil lawsuits over the sexual abuse of children. Once that window closes, people alleging abuse would have until age 28 to bring a claim. Current law sets the limit at 23 in most circumstances.

The measure recognizes that it typically takes many years before victims are ready to come forward. The measure also recognizes the Catholic Church’s history of intimidating victims and burying abuses in church files, creating a shroud of secrecy that extended in many cases until victims were in their 30s or older, well beyond existing time limits for prosecutions or civil lawsuits.

An earlier version of the bill passed the Assembly in 2006, 2007 and 2008, but the Senate, then under Republican control, refused to consider it. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver expresses strong support for the latest bill, amended to cover abuses by both religious and non- religious entities. But he is insistent that the Senate act first before requiring his members to cast another politically sensitive vote on the issue.
The Senate Codes Committee is set to consider the measure by mid-June. The committee’s chairman, Eric Schneiderman, Democrat of Manhattan, should work to ensure passage of the bill, which has safeguards against the filing of bogus claims.

The Catholic Church fears a wave of costly settlements and damage awards like those that followed California’s temporary lifting of the statute of limitations several years ago. Those concerns, and the difficulty of trying to judge decades-old accusations, are outweighed by the need to afford victims a measure of justice, the demands of public safety, and the injustice of rewarding any group for covering up sexual abuse of children.

Vatican’s Lawyer Denies Merit of Lawsuit Against Pope

Chad Franks — Sat, 01 May 2010 01:30:00 GMT

Vatican’s lawyer says federal lawsuit against pope has no merit
By Catholic News Service
Posted: 4/30/2010

MILWAUKEE (CNS) -- The Vatican's U.S. lawyer said a federal lawsuit accusing Pope Benedict XVI of covering up sexual abuse by a priest at a Milwaukee Catholic school has no merit.

"While legitimate lawsuits have been filed by abuse victims, this is not one of them," Vatican attorney Jeffrey Lena said in a April 23 statement. "Instead, the lawsuit represents an attempt to use tragic events as a platform for a broader attack."

The lawsuit was filed April 22 in the U.S. District Court in Milwaukee by an unnamed Illinois man who claims he was molested by Father Lawrence Murphy while he was a student at St. John's School for the Deaf. The plaintiff is represented by Minnesota attorney Jeff Anderson, who has filed thousands of abuse lawsuits against priests and representatives of the Catholic Church.

Father Murphy worked at the school for the deaf from 1950 to 1974. In the early 1970s, multiple allegations of sexual abuse against the priest were made to civil authorities, who investigated but never brought charges. He was placed on a leave of absence for a while and later returned to pastoral ministry in the Diocese of Superior, where he worked until 1993.

The Vatican chose not to laicize Father Murphy despite the recommendation of his bishop. In a recent statement in The New York Times, the Vatican said that by the time it learned of the case in the late 1990s, the priest was elderly and in poor health. The Vatican eventually suggested that the priest continue to be restricted in ministry instead of laicized, and he died four months later.

The Vatican decision not to proceed to a church trial and possible laicization came after the priest wrote a personal appeal to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, who was head of the Vatican's doctrinal congregation at the time, the Times article said.

The April 22 lawsuit claims the Vatican "has known about the widespread problem of childhood sexual abuse committed by its clergy for centuries, but has covered up that abuse and thereby perpetuated the abuse."

The lawsuit also intends to prove the Vatican is a global business empire, practicing in "commercial activity" in Wisconsin and across the United States and holding "unqualified power" over each diocese, parish and follower.

"The case against the Holy See and its officials is completely without merit," Lena said. "Most of the complaint rehashes old theories already rejected by U.S. courts."

Regarding Father Murphy, Lena said the Vatican and its officials "knew nothing of his crimes until decades after the abuse occurred, and had no role whatsoever in causing plaintiff's injuries."

He also said "first and foremost sympathy is due to the victims of the criminal acts committed by Father Lawrence Murphy. By sexually abusing children, (Father) Murphy violated both the law and the trust that his victims placed in him."

According to the lawsuit, Pope Benedict was named as a defendant in the case because of his authority to remove priests and his involvement in reviewing sex abuse cases when he was cardinal.

The same attorney representing the Illinois plaintiff also filed suit April 21 on behalf of a Mexican resident who claims he was sexually abused by a priest in 1997. The suit accuses Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera for transferring Father Nicolas Aguilar Rivera between dioceses even though he apparently had a history of sexual abuse. At the time of the abuse allegations, Cardinal Rivera was bishop of Tehuacan in the state of Puebla.

The complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles relies on a U.S. law that allows foreign victims of human rights abuses to bring their perpetrators to justice in U.S. courts.

Tod Tamberg, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, told The New York Times that "Cardinal Mahony was not warned of the priest's history" before he was transferred to the archdiocese.

The priest, who was defrocked in 2009, has a 20-year-old warrant pending in Los Angeles for his arrest on 19 counts of child rape.

The Archdiocese of Mexico City in a statement called the accusations against Cardinal Rivera "calumnious and defamatory." It said the lawsuit is "no more than an opportunistic media deceit" taking advantage of the current atmosphere of attacks on the Catholic Church because of the criminal behavior of some priests.

MILWAUKEE (CNS) -- The Vatican's U.S. lawyer said a federal lawsuit accusing Pope Benedict XVI of covering up sexual abuse by a priest at a Milwaukee Catholic school has no merit.

"While legitimate lawsuits have been filed by abuse victims, this is not one of them," Vatican attorney Jeffrey Lena said in a April 23 statement. "Instead, the lawsuit represents an attempt to use tragic events as a platform for a broader attack."

The lawsuit was filed April 22 in the U.S. District Court in Milwaukee by an unnamed Illinois man who claims he was molested by Father Lawrence Murphy while he was a student at St. John's School for the Deaf. The plaintiff is represented by Minnesota attorney Jeff Anderson, who has filed thousands of abuse lawsuits against priests and representatives of the Catholic Church.

Father Murphy worked at the school for the deaf from 1950 to 1974. In the early 1970s, multiple allegations of sexual abuse against the priest were made to civil authorities, who investigated but never brought charges. He was placed on a leave of absence for a while and later returned to pastoral ministry in the Diocese of Superior, where he worked until 1993.

The Vatican chose not to laicize Father Murphy despite the recommendation of his bishop. In a recent statement in The New York Times, the Vatican said that by the time it learned of the case in the late 1990s, the priest was elderly and in poor health. The Vatican eventually suggested that the priest continue to be restricted in ministry instead of laicized, and he died four months later.

The Vatican decision not to proceed to a church trial and possible laicization came after the priest wrote a personal appeal to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, who was head of the Vatican's doctrinal congregation at the time, the Times article said.

The April 22 lawsuit claims the Vatican "has known about the widespread problem of childhood sexual abuse committed by its clergy for centuries, but has covered up that abuse and thereby perpetuated the abuse."

The lawsuit also intends to prove the Vatican is a global business empire, practicing in "commercial activity" in Wisconsin and across the United States and holding "unqualified power" over each diocese, parish and follower.

"The case against the Holy See and its officials is completely without merit," Lena said. "Most of the complaint rehashes old theories already rejected by U.S. courts."

Regarding Father Murphy, Lena said the Vatican and its officials "knew nothing of his crimes until decades after the abuse occurred, and had no role whatsoever in causing plaintiff's injuries."

He also said "first and foremost sympathy is due to the victims of the criminal acts committed by Father Lawrence Murphy. By sexually abusing children, (Father) Murphy violated both the law and the trust that his victims placed in him."

According to the lawsuit, Pope Benedict was named as a defendant in the case because of his authority to remove priests and his involvement in reviewing sex abuse cases when he was cardinal.

The same attorney representing the Illinois plaintiff also filed suit April 21 on behalf of a Mexican resident who claims he was sexually abused by a priest in 1997. The suit accuses Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera for transferring Father Nicolas Aguilar Rivera between dioceses even though he apparently had a history of sexual abuse. At the time of the abuse allegations, Cardinal Rivera was bishop of Tehuacan in the state of Puebla.

The complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles relies on a U.S. law that allows foreign victims of human rights abuses to bring their perpetrators to justice in U.S. courts.

Tod Tamberg, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, told The New York Times that "Cardinal Mahony was not warned of the priest's history" before he was transferred to the archdiocese.

The priest, who was defrocked in 2009, has a 20-year-old warrant pending in Los Angeles for his arrest on 19 counts of child rape.

The Archdiocese of Mexico City in a statement called the accusations against Cardinal Rivera "calumnious and defamatory." It said the lawsuit is "no more than an opportunistic media deceit" taking advantage of the current atmosphere of attacks on the Catholic Church because of the criminal behavior of some priests.

The statement, reported by the Spanish news agency EFE, said the lawsuit's demands lack judicial substance. It added that the priest was not under the direct ecclesial jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Mexico City since he was a member of the Rome-based Theatine Fathers.

Father Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico City, told Univision, the U.S.-based Spanish-language TV network, that he expected the lawsuit would lead nowhere, as had two previous attempts to hold the archdiocese accountable for sexual abuse by a Mexican priest.

In Manila, Philippines, the lawyers of a Filipino priest accused of sexually abusing boys in the United States in the 1970s said they did not know enough about the case to respond to it.

According to UCA News, the Asian Catholic news agency, one suit against 73-year-old Benedictine Father Manuel Perez Maramba was settled by the Diocese of El Paso, Texas. Church officials in the Philippines have not spoken about the case and the priest's lawyers said that since the priest was not part of the proceedings for the settlement case, "there is nothing to deny or admit."

In Colorado, Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput asked for prayers for Father Melvin Thompson, parochial vicar at St. Thomas More Parish in Denver. The archbishop removed the priest from ministry April 8 after receiving a complaint from a man who reported that he had been sexually abused by him more than 35 years ago in an undisclosed Colorado parish.

The archbishop, in a column in the April 13 issue of the Denver Catholic Register, the archdiocesan newspaper, said he understands the frustration parishioners have expressed at losing a "respected and well-loved" priest who has never faced any previous allegation.

Catholics complained, the archbishop wrote, of the "unfairness" of relieving the priest of his ministerial duties one day after a single unsubstantiated accusation arose that the priest denies.

The archbishop said the presumption of Father Thompson's innocence must be respected, but that in accord with archdiocesan policies, the accusation was reported to civil authorities for investigation.

"In removing Father Thompson, or any member of the clergy from the ministry in a situation like this, we act purely to ensure the safety of children, families and the integrity of the church community," Archbishop Chaput said.

Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal Nears Pope

Chad Franks — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:45:00 GMT

Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal Nears Pope

Expected Papal Letter of Apology Unlikely to Satisfy Victims; Pope Reportedly Linked to Coverup

by Allen Pizzey

(CBS) A papal letter of apology is the latest effort to save the Catholic Church from a scandal that threatens to become a plague of Biblical proportions.

Even Pope Benedict XVI has admitted that the Church has been "severely shaken" by repeated allegations of high-level cover-ups of sexual abuse and demands for a clear apology.

"My hope is that it (the letter) will help in the process of repentance, healing and renewal," the pontiff said earlier this week.

The letter will be released on Saturday, but CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey reports that it's unlikely to assuage the anger of victims in parishes from the U.S. to Ireland., the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Brazil.

"I don’t think a pastoral letter is the proper context in which to respond to a report about the cover up the rape of children," said Andrew Madden, an abuse victim.

Government-ordered inquiries in Ireland have documented cases of abuse and cover-ups between the 1930s and 1990s that involved more than 15,000 children.

"Children were sworn to secrecy, having made allegations against a priest, and subsequently that priest was allowed to carry on being a priest," said Madden.

In fact, the practice of protecting offending priests at the expense of the victims reportedly involved the Pope himself. When he was an archbishop in Germany, at least one known offender was moved from one parish to another.

A Germany psychiatrist told the New York Times in a story published Friday that he repeatedly warned the diocese Benedict then headed about the priest in question.

"I said, 'For God's sake, he desperately has to be kept away from working with children,'" the psychiatrist, Dr. Werner Huth, told the Times in a phone interview from Munich. "I was very unhappy about the entire story."
His alleged warnings, which were repeated to Benedict's senior aids, went unheeded.

German bishops have now recommended what they termed, "a compulsory registration of suspected sexual and physical abuse cases to state prosecutors."

"I don't want to blame the Pope," Archbishop Reinhard Marx said in Germany. "We as bishops have the responsibility in our dioceses."

Be that as it may, what really matters now is how far the Pope will go towards righting a massive wrong that just seems to keep on growing.

Sex-abuse claims rise in Germany

Chad Franks — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:45:00 GMT

- AP
(adapted from the Philadelphia Inquirer)

Sex-abuse claims rise in Germany

BERLIN - The number of students who say they were sexually abused by Jesuit priests at schools across Germany has jumped to 115, a lawyer said yesterday.

Attorney Ursula Raue, appointed by the Jesuits, said that since seven alumni of the private Catholic Canisius Kolleg in Berlin reported abuses in January, the accusations had grown to "unbelievable proportions."

Raue said that victims identified 12 Jesuit priests by name and accused women in some cases. She also said rapes had been reported.

The sexual-abuse charges are the most widespread of any involving Catholic priests in Germany, homeland of Pope Benedict XVI. Most of the cases date back to the 1970s and 1980s, and some as far back as the 1950s.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/84761967.html#ixzz0pbo4PTT6
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West New York man pleads guilty; went to Illinois for sex-and-photos spree with 13-year-old boy

Chad Franks — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:50:00 GMT

West New York man pleads guilty; went to Illinois for sex-and-photos spree with 13-year-old boy

The New Jersey Journal

Friday, February 19, 2010

TRENTON - A West New York man pleaded guilty yesterday to federal charges that he traveled to Illinois to have sex with a 13-year-old boy, authorities said.

Eric Duprey, 36, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan to interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual activity with a minor. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for June 2.

At his plea hearing, Duprey admitted that he spent several months chatting over the Internet with a victim he believed was 15 years old and traveled to Illinois last February and April. On both occasions, Duprey admitted, he and his victim spent several days in an Illinois hotel, where Duprey repeatedly sexually abused the boy and took photographs of the abuse.

"Our most important concern here are the victims," said Acting Special Agent in Charge Kevin Cruise. "The FBI Victim Assistance Program is involved and trying to mitigate the damage Mr. Duprey caused by tracking down any potential other victims and providing necessary services."

After receiving a tip that Duprey was trafficking in child pornography, the FBI searched his West New York home on the 6100 block of Jefferson Street and found a "sex slave contract" between Duprey and the boy dated April 1, 2009, authorities said. Also seized was a computer disk that contained images of sexually explicit contact between Duprey and his victim, authorities said.

Area prosecutors are watching sexting case in U.S. Appeals Court

Chad Franks — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 02:55:00 GMT

Area prosecutors are watching sexting case in U.S. Appeals Court

By MATTHEW KEMENY, The Patriot-News

January 15, 2010, 7:22PM

Just about all law enforcers agree teen sexting — sending explicit photos via text message — is a growing problem.

But how to punish those caught doing it? That’s where the disagreements start.

The first criminal case involving sexting reached a U.S. appeals court on Friday — a case that asks whether racy cell phone photos of three girls amount to child pornography or child’s play — but area prosecutors say the decision probably won’t affect how they handle sexting cases.

The cases are a real struggle for prosecutors, Cumberland County District Attorney David J. Freed said. The only appropriate criminal statute under which to charge offenders is sexual abuse of children, or distribution of child pornography, a felony.

“The issue is so much at the forefront now, it will always be on a case-by-case basis,” Freed said. “It will be interesting to see what the appeals court does, but I don’t think it’ll change much what is going on around here.”

Some, like Freed and Dauphin County District Attorney Edward M. Marsico, support legislation introduced by a York County lawmaker that would create a new second-degree misdemeanor for teens caught sexting and preclude them from being listed as sex offenders. It would give prosecutors more discretion in handling cases, Marsico said.

“By the same token, it’s a growing problem that kids need to be aware of,” Marsico said. “The girl who thinks she’s sending the pictures to her boyfriend and no one else will see it is delusional.”

According to one study, 20 percent of U.S. teens admit they have sexted.

In October, seven Susquenita High School students were involved in sending pornographic images and videos of themselves or other students. They were given the option of consent decree. Two are already going through it and five are expected to enter the program, Chenot said.

In February, three East Pennsboro Area High School girls were caught taking nude photos of themselves with their cell phones and sending them to friends. The girls, ages 15 and 16, initially were cited by police with disorderly conduct, a summary offense, but the charges were dropped and the girls were sent to the Cumberland County probation office’s Youth Aid Panel, which devises community service programs for juvenile offenders.

In the case before the appeals court, a Wyoming County prosecutor threatened to pursue felony charges if the girls skipped his “re-education” course on such topics as sexual predators and “what it means to be a girl in today’s society.” The photos show two 12-year-olds in training bras at a sleepover and a topless 16-year-old stepping out of the shower.

School officials in Tunkhannock, about 130 miles north of Philadelphia, found the images in late 2008 on cell phones confiscated from junior and senior high school students.

Last year, The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association created a Let’s Talk About Sexting program, which officials say has received rave reviews from school districts. Marsico has spoken at several of the seminars and hinted that, after education, any future sexting offenders might not get off with a slap on the wrist.

“Once we’ve made most kids aware of the legal cons, I’m not going to be as charitable in the future,” he said.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report

Man Speaks Out After 30 Years of Silence

Chad Franks — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:55:00 GMT

Kennedy blasts Fleury's delays

By MICHAEL PLATT

Calgary Sun (Calgarysun.com)

Last Updated: 15th December 2009, 3:29am

It took him nearly 30 years to admit he was a victim of sexual abuse -- and now Theo Fleury says he needs a little more time before he hits his accused molester with a two-pronged legal attack.

Confirming that he plans to pursue both criminal charges and a civil lawsuit against former coach Graham James, Fleury said he won't let pressure from ex-teammate and abuse victim Sheldon Kennedy rush him into a police station.

"I'm dealing with it, and it's not as cut and dry as everyone would think," said Fleury.

"There's two sides, right? There's the criminal case and then obviously the civil lawsuit, and they're both intertwined.

"That's why we're getting our ducks in a row first, and then we'll move forward."

If Fleury follows through, it'll be the second time police have investigated James for allegedly molesting former players under his charge.

James was convicted in 1997 of more than 350 incidents of sexual abuse involving Kennedy and an unidentified Swift Current teammate, and was sentenced to three years-and-a-half years in prison.

Fleury had maintained a wall of silence throughout his professional playing career in the NHL, before finally making the accusation in an autobiography, Playing with Fire, released in October.

In his book, rife with tales of drug abuse and addiction, the now-sober Fleury claims James sexually abused him, starting when he was 14 years old.

After Playing with Fire was released, Fleury told a New York newspaper he'd hired a lawyer and wanted to pursue charges against James, but his publicist later said the question of a court case was up in the air.

In late November, The New York Times reported that Fleury hadn't even met with the lawyer, Hersh Wolch, to discuss the case.

The lack of apparent action has been an ongoing source of frustration for Kennedy, and now, he's blasting Fleury for wasting time.

"I don't know why you need a lawyer to file a complaint -- you usually need a lawyer after the fact, if you ever need one at all," said Kennedy.

Kennedy has dedicated his life to fighting sexual abuse, and recently spoke out about a Calgary case where a male hockey coach was charged for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old female player.

Kennedy said Fleury's claim that his book may help other victims speak out means nothing, so long as he delays in asking police to file charges.

"I think it's frustrating -- it's frustrating for me, when we're telling people to do the right thing and we won't do it ourselves," said Kennedy.

"Every day that Graham (James) is out there, it's a risk to a child, period."

James hasn't spoken publicly since the new controversy erupted, and Kennedy believes he's living under an assumed name, somewhere in the Montreal area.

"I got one email, from somebody who says he's teaching in Montreal, but nobody can find him," said Kennedy.

The last solid lead on 57-year-old James came after his release from prison, when he was reported to be coaching youth hockey in Spain.

Fleury's Calgary-based attorney, Wolch, said the case against James is proceeding, though legal work has slowed due to the approaching holiday season.

"(Fleury) has left it in my hands, and we're going to give it our full attention in the New Year," said Wolch.

Fleury's desire to pursue both criminal and civil cases against James have precedent.

The last player to seek financial damages from the coach also sued the league and team which employed the serial molester.

In January 1999, the unidentified former Swift Current Broncos player filed a lawsuit against the Western Hockey League and the Swift Current Broncos, among others, including James.

It was settled out of court in 2003.

Fleury, who was in Los Angeles for a meeting of a support group dedicated to victims of sexual abuse, said he hasn't forgotten his promise to pursue charges -- he just needs more time.

"When I'm mentally ready, I'll be ready to do it," said Fleury.

"It's only been a few months."

MICHAEL.PLATT@SUNMEDIA.CA