In Part I of this post, I discussed the sexual abuse by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of victims in New Jersey. He was even “Uncle Ted” to one of his victims. I also explained that in 2019 New Jersey opened a window so that more abuse cases could get into court. In this post, I note that many cases were filed before 2019. Some failed because of charitable immunity. Some succeeded. I identify some of the older cases that survived, and look at some current cases that raise new legal issues for the archdiocese and dioceses. This Part will also remind you that bankruptcy often interferes with the prosecution of sexual abuse cases.
Earlier Cases
Charitable immunity protects charities from paying legal damages. Their damages are often restricted or terminated by a policy that says because charities are doing good work, you can’t sue them. New Jersey had a charitable immunity law that protected the Roman Catholic Church from compensating its victims of sexual abuse. New Jersey’s immunity “shield[ed] any ‘non profit corporation, society, or association organized exclusively for religious, charitable or educational purposes’ from tort liability arising from negligence.” That rule blocked many early lawsuits.
In 2006, the state amended its charitable immunity law to allow religious organizations to be sued for their sexual offenses. Cases developed after that.
The confidentiality of many settlement agreements makes it hard to determine the exact figures, and the amounts vary from case to case. Professor Teller notes, “The Camden Diocese paid fifteen survivors settlements ranging in amounts from $10,000 to $513,000. Bishop Accountability reported that in 2005, the Paterson Roman Catholic Diocese settled with 27 survivors for a total of $5,000,000 after claims were brought for abuse by a former pastor from St. Joseph’s parish, other priests, and a deacon. Most victims received monetary awards ranging from $100,000 to $200,000.”
In 2004, Newark Archbishop John J. Myers paid 10 victims $1.07 million to settle their claims. Before that, the church acknowledged it had spent $2.2 million in “settlements, legal fees, counseling for victims, treatments for offenders and contributions to victims and their families since 1950.” One person included in the settlement was Marigrace Labella, who had been abused by three priests.
In 2018, the newspapers published the estimate that the five New Jersey dioceses had paid $50 million to sexual abuse victims. The amount was uncertain, because Newark’s Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Tobin said his diocese had paid $50 million, then corrected his words to say that was the total for all five dioceses. Camden paid $10,045,163 in settlements since 1990. Metuchen paid $1,633,667 in settlements since 1981. Metuchen said insurance paid those damages. Trenton paid its damages through a “self-insurance” program that they funded for themselves. They have paid out $9.5 million since 2008. They also paid $500,000 for counseling services for survivors. Paterson paid $12.5 million from 2003 to 2017 through insurance reserves.
The dioceses say they report sexual abuse allegations to the police.
From 2005 to 2007, Metuchen and Newark settled two cases with $180,000 going to priests abused by Cardinal McCarrick. $80,000 went to a “former priest turned lawyer” who said seminarians were expected to share McCarrick’s bed at McCarrick’s beach home. Robert Ciolek said he “felt unable to say no” to McCarrick when he was a seminarian in his 20s. Ciolek kept quiet for years until he filed for a settlement and received the $80,000 from Newark, Trenton, and Metuchen. He was released from a confidentiality agreement after McCarrick was removed from ministry. A second, unnamed priest got $100,000 in 2007. He said McCarrick put his arms and legs around him in bed. He saw McCarrick having sex with another priest on a fishing trip. This priest later left ministry after he abused teenage boys.
McCarrick was removed from ministry because of complaints from 1969 by an unnamed 16-year-old boy. That boy is now a married Jersey businessman who does not want his name released. He went to McCarrick in Manhattan to be measured for an altar boy’s cassock. McCarrick unzipped his pants. A year later, McCarrick approached him in a bathroom and put his hands down his pants. This victim contacted the New York Archdiocese when he learned they were hearing from victims. The New Jersey diocese did not disclose their earlier 2005 and 2007 settlements with McCarrick until he was removed from the ministry in 2018.
In 2017, Kevin Gugliotta was sentenced to 11 months for child pornography. He had been accused of abuse that took place in 2003, but was cleared of that and allowed to work in the church, including in youth ministry, until the pornography charges arose. Three lawsuits were then filed against him.
In January 2020, the newspaper reported that 560 people had sought compensation for abuse from the church’s IVCP program, and that more than $11 million had been paid to 69 New Jersey victims. The remaining cases were under review. The administrators had reviewed 102 of the 560, closed 69 with settlements and rejected 7 of the 102 as ineligible. 458 were still in review. The program’s deadline was extended from December 31 to January 31, 2020.
In other cases, William Dowd was removed from ministry in 2002 after abusing two children. He was acquitted in a church trial, and “was chaplain for the New York Giants football team when it won the 2008 Super Bowl.” In 2019, however, a new lawsuit was filed, and it was settled by the IVCP. Two other lawsuits remain open. Monsignor George Trabold retired after accusations against him in 2014, and the accuser received a settlement in 2016. Lawyer Greg Gianforcaro says he has settled between 50 and 60 cases under the IVCP. Many of these names are not on the churches’ abusers list. As of February 2023, the IVCP had paid $40 million to 348 people.
George Sudol has been accused of abuse numerous times, when the plaintiff was 7 to 11 years old. NorthJersey.com reports that Newark knew about Sudol’s abuse, but he was still allowed to work in a parish until 2019.
Jim Weiner was on leave from one church after abuse allegations were made against him in 2018 about conduct in 2003. Four years later, however, he was reassigned to Mercy House in Newark because his “matter is now closed.” Desmond Rossi made the original complaint against Weiner, saying Weiner and another man sexually assaulted him at the Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University. The church said it could not confirm Rossi’s allegations. Weiner is not on any of the credibly accused lists.
John Laferrera of Newark was accused of abusing a 15-year-old in 2009. There were earlier cases against him, and he was on the archdiocese’s list.
Kevin Gugliotti was accused of sexual abuse of a 9-year-old in 2006. He was arrested on pornography charges.
A clergy abuse website notes that the five dioceses “have paid at least $50 million” in settlements. Since 2023, Paterson has paid “at least $12.5 million.” They recorded these “notable” settlements:
Victims can get damages once the courts are open to them. Across the country, however, churches filing for bankruptcy have put the abuse cases on hold.
Bankruptcy
Camden filed for bankruptcy in October 2020. The bankruptcy judge set a June 30, 2021 deadline for victims to file their abuse lawsuits.
Lawyer Jeff Anderson identified ten Camden priests who were accused of abuse. “The accused priests are: Rev. Jerome Prisco; Rev. Joseph O’Connell; Rev. John O’Brien; Rev. Kenneth Johnston; Rev. Robert Smaldore; Rev. Leon Winowicz; Rev. Rocco Continillo; Rev. David Budney; Rev. Jesus Danilo Giraldo; and Rev. Roger A. Sullivan.” Except for Johnston, the nine names had not been released in the past. Only Sullivan and Giraldo are believed to be alive. None of the ten priests is on Camden’s 2019 list of abusers. At age 70, victim James Reuter filed a lawsuit against Walter T. Reilly and Francis J. McLaughlin, two dead priests who are on Camden’s list. Reuter had not publicly discussed his abuse in the 50 preceding years. Other victims filed as John or Jane Doe. The story says Camden had settled 170 claims, paid $20 million to victims and $950,000 for victims’ therapeutic care.
The diocese’s first proposal would have given survivors $90 million, paid by them and $30 million of which would have been paid by the insurers. The plaintiffs objected to that plan. The agreement was held up by complaints from insurers that the legal proceedings were biased against them, which might provoke false lawsuits and claims for attorney’s fees. The next plan gave $87.5 million to victims, and left them free to sue the insurers. The Camden bankruptcy ended with that $87.5 million settlement. They entered an agreement that allows insurers to sue if anyone wrongly asked them for coverage.
Other Legal Issues
The New Jersey Supreme Court recently granted leave to appeal in D.T. v. Archdiocese of Philadelphia, 257 N.J. 5, A.3d 975 (4/5/2024). In 2023, the New Jersey appellate division heard a case brought by a resident of New Jersey against a Philadelphia priest, Michael Murphy, who abused him in New Jersey when he was fourteen years old in 1971. The court dismissed the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for lack of personal jurisdiction. Plaintiff argued that the archdiocese was “on notice” of the abuse. Plaintiff said the archdiocese was negligent in hiring and supervising McCarthy and was vicariously liable for his torts. He also said it provided services to him when McCarthy was in New Jersey. The court concluded the archdiocese did not have “minimum contacts” for jurisdiction. The appeals court considered New Jersey’s lookback window, and still ruled against the plaintiff:
While the CV Act evidences New Jersey’s strong public policy to protect and compensate children who were sexually abused, the CV Act does not change the federal constitutional due process protections concerning personal jurisdiction. Accordingly, to sue a non-resident defendant in New Jersey, the non-resident defendant must still be subject to personal jurisdiction in New Jersey.
And the archdiocese was not.
In a different appellate division case, the plaintiff said Father John Butler, of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, had abused him from 1995 to 1998, when he was 9 to 12 years old. The court concluded that the New Jersey courts had personal jurisdiction over Richmond because “Richmond purposefully availed itself of the benefits of allowing Butler to go to New Jersey to serve as a priest.” The court said Richmond was aware of Butler’s attraction toward children, encouraged him to go to New Jersey, and exercised control over him while he was working there. Butler went to New Jersey after being arrested for homosexuality and sexually abusing boys in Virginia.
We will see what the Supreme Court of New Jersey says about personal jurisdiction and the Philadelphia archdiocese. D.T.’s lawyer said, “We look forward to explaining to the Supreme Court why the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is subject to New Jersey’s jurisdiction when priests in doing their jobs were taking children to New Jersey and abusing them there.”
Current Cases
Insurance continues to be an issue in these cases, just as it was in the Camden bankruptcy. In Trenton, Doe 68 filed a lawsuit saying that she was abused by a priest when she was from 8 to 11 years old, more than 50 years ago. The diocese’s insurance carrier is in court, saying it should not have to pay the damages because the diocese has hidden information from it about its actions. Insurance says the damages were not accidents, and so the insurance companies are not liable. Victims have insisted that Century Indemnity Company should pay their damages. They worry that a bankrupt church may not be able to pay their damages, while an insurance company has the resources to do that and must continue to do so.
One woman filed a lawsuit, M.J. v. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark et al., against the Archdiocese of Newark, Queen of Peace High School, and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chestnut Hill. She says she was abused by a teacher from 1984 to 1985, and that the school did not supervise the teacher. Another lawsuit by a group of plaintiffs alleges abuse at Queen of Peace, sponsored by the Newark Archdiocese. A suit by K.M., also against Archdiocese of Newark, Queen of Peace High School, and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chestnut Hill, argues that teacher Lief Schiroki sexually abused them from 1984-1987. Another plaintiff claims sexual abuse from 1983-1987, when she was ages 14 to 18, by counselor Brother Donald Richard at Roselle Catholic High School. She named Newark, the Marist Brothers of the Schools, the Marist Brothers, the Province of Esopus and the high school as defendants.
Eight priests were accused of abuse: Francis Dennehy, James Hanley, John Heekin, Charles Bradley, Absalom Courinho, John Pisarcik, William Mockus, and James Scott.
Paterson’s Andrew Perretta faces three new abuse lawsuits. Joseph Farrell, who was removed as a pastor, has not been added to the church’s list.
Elodie Turpin alleged that Benoit Guichard, of Our Lady of Fatima Chapel in Pequannock, abused her 50 times in her home. Guichard’s lawyer said the complaint was “frivolous and ridiculous.” John Galeano remained in a church in Newark in 2019 after allegations were made against him. In 2021, a lawsuit was filed saying that Galeano abused a 17-year-old.
Jeff Herman’s Law Firm has a list of abusers in the New Jersey dioceses. They filed three suits against three priests, three New Jersey dioceses, two churches and the Brooklyn Archdiocese, arguing that they did not protect children against abuse. Altar boy B.D.S. said he was abused by Romano Ferraro in the Diocese of Metuchen. Ferraro was “one of the most prolific priest pedophiles on the East Coast.” His name was not on the 2019 Metuchen list, even though he was listed as credibly accused by Brooklyn and St. Louis. Ferraro was found guilty of sexual assault in Massachusetts and was sentenced to life in prison. He died there in 2023. B.D. says James Hanley abused him at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in the Diocese of Paterson. T.C. says Joseph Cevetello abused him at Our Lady of Mount Virgin Church in the Archdiocese of Newark. Herman, who has 250 other lawsuits against the Catholic Church, said the “Catholic Church was complicit because it forced bishops to keep accusations of sexual abuse secret, therefore leaving kids who attend churches with priests with a history of pedophilia at risk.” In Trenton, Herman settled the William McKeone case and brought suit against Joseph Farrell for abuse. Patrick Magee was arrested and charged with sex abuse from 30 years ago. In Metuchen, Herman brought two September 2020 lawsuits against Brother Regis Moccia and Rev. Patrick H. Barrett, who are both dead. Patrick Kuffner is being investigated there.
Conclusion
These are sad stories. The work the New Jersey lawyers are doing is incredible.
I hope the new cases bring more justice and relief to survivors like James Grein, who used his courage to stand up to abuser Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.