Lawyers in abuse case claim Salinas PD is too tight with accused priest to investigate.

Damned If They Do: Diocese administrator Tom Riordan says “We’re criticized if we don’t do an investigation, and we’re criticized if we do an investigation.” Photo by Nic Coury.

Separating Church and State

Lawyers in abuse case claim Salinas PD is too tight with accused priest to investigate.

By Sara Rubin

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Attorneys representing the victim of alleged sexual abuse at the hands of a Catholic priest have asked the Salinas Police Department to recuse itself from the case, citing an entrenched relationship between law enforcement and the alleged perpetrator.


“We believe the Salinas PD has an unavoidable conflict in this case,” lawyers John Manly and Vince Finaldi wrote in a Feb. 22 letter to Salinas Police Chief Louis Fetherolf and Deputy Chief Cassie McSorley. 

Salinas police would not comment on the letter. “We’ve investigated our own employees, so I don’t know what the conflict of interest would be,” says police spokesman Lalo Villegas.


The priest, Rev. Edward Fitz-Henry, served as a chaplain or quasi-chaplain for Salinas police, and as a San Benito County sheriff’s chaplain for 15 years until he resigned that role last month.


If the investigation fell under jurisdiction of the San Benito sheriff, the department would pass it to another agency. “We would probably not investigate… so there’s no perception of impropriety,” says Sgt. Scott Becker. 


Before the Diocese of Monterey suspended Fitz-Henry last month, he had been a priest at Mission San Juan Bautista since 1996, with the exception of a two-year stint at Madonna del Sasso from 2005 to 2007. The alleged abuse took place at Madonna.


The Diocese began investigating in January, an effort led by recently retired Salinas police sergeant Don Cline.

Finaldi says the Diocese’s inquiry is contaminating witnesses and undermining detectives’ ability to conduct a fair criminal investigation. Villegas, whose wedding Fitz-Henry officiated, agrees. “Why was the Diocese approached first?” he says. “In circumstances like these, the police department would be the first one notified.” 

Priest Guilty of Child Rape, Faces Life in Prison

Watch Video

Conor Berry, Berkshire Eagle

Posted: 02/13/2011 10:53:34 AM EST

PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Thursday was judgment day for Gary Mercure, the former New York Catholic priest who could spend the rest of his life in prison for raping two altar boys in the Berkshires.

It took less than two hours for a Berkshire Superior Court jury to convict the 62-year-old priest on three counts of forcible child rape and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child younger than 14.

The charges stem from separate crimes committed by Mercure in 1986 and 1989, when he raped altar boys from his former Catholic church in Queensbury, N.Y., during day trips to the Berkshires.

Mercure didn't flinch as Superior Court Clerk Deborah S. Capeless read aloud each of the four guilty verdicts, one after the next. Court Officer Paul Duma placed handcuffs on the fallen priest and took him into custody.

Judge John A. Agostini ordered the Troy, N.Y., clergyman to be held without bail at the Berkshire County Jail & House of Correction until he is sentenced Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Mercure, a small, dapper man with graying hair, smiled at his crying sister as he was led away in handcuffs.

Defense Attorney Michael O. Jennings, of Springfield, had little to say about his client or the case while exiting the courtroom with co-counsel Robert DeLong, of Monson.

Mercure, who was permanently removed from ministry in New York in 2008 but technically remains a priest, plans to challenge the conviction. "There will be an appeal," Jennings said.

The trial began smoothly on Jan. 31, but was delayed by winter weather and the dismissal of a juror for posting a comment on Twitter that the judge said violated juror silence in the case.

Several of the priest's victims were present when Thursday's guilty verdicts were handed down. Afterward, one victim wiped tears from his eyes while making a call on his cell phone, while others embraced Berkshire First Assistant District Attorney Paul J. Caccaviello and Assistant District Attorney Marianne Shelvey, the prosecutors who tried the case.

The victims were escorted from the Pittsfield courthouse by plainclothes Massachusetts State Police troopers and court officers, who prevented members of the media from approaching them. Caccaviello said the victims didn't wish to speak with the reporters who crowded the courthouse hallway with television cameras and microphones. "They're still processing this," he said.

Caccaviello said Mercure's conviction should bring some closure to the victims, who remained mum about the abuse for more than 20 years. "We're very gratified for that verdict," he said, calling the victims "heroes" for coming forward.

Asked how the victims were faring, Caccaviello replied, "Right now, there's a whole range of emotions."

The Berkshire District Attorney's Office hasn't yet formulated its sentencing recommendation, but Mercure could spend the rest of his life behind bars. "He's been convicted of life felonies," Caccaviello said.

So much of the trial's testimony focused on individuals and events from New York, with only a fraction of the testimony pertaining to the Berkshire County assaults. "It presented difficult challenges," Caccaviello admitted.

"Father Satan"

However, the jury ultimately believed the testimony of the five altar boys who accused Mercure of long-term sexual abuse in New York during the 1980s.

Two of those men also testified that Mercure raped them during car trips to the Berkshires, including a 1986 outing to a hiking area bordering Great Barrington and Monterey and a 1989 trip to the former Brodie Mountain Ski Area in New Ashford. "I think that the jury could tell that our two victims were credible," Caccaviello said.

All of the former altar boys hail from New York and are now in their 30s, including one who's the father of an infant child. State police investigators who handled the probe said one altar boy, now 35, was forcibly raped twice by Mercure during that single 1986 trip to South County. The other victim, now 34, was raped once by Mercure during the 1989 trip to New Ashford, police said.

The 1986 incident occurred between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31 of that year, while the 1989 incident happened between Feb. 1 and Feb. 28 of that year, according to police and prosecutors. Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany referred to Mercure's crimes as "sinful, criminal and reprehensible." "Our hearts today are with the children who were abused, all now adults. We admire the strength and courage they demonstrated by coming forward. As devastating as their experiences must have been, they have shown by example that they are survivors -- strong, resilient and powerful," the diocese said in a statement issued after the verdicts came down.

After receiving an abuse allegation against Mercure in early 2008, the diocese contacted the Warren County (N.Y.) District Attorney's Office, which was unable to prosecute Mercure due to the vintage of the claims. Massachusetts has a statute of limitations that's more favorable to these sorts of prosecutions, however, and was able to hold Mercure criminally responsible for his decades-old crimes.

In Massachusetts, the countdown for the statute of limitations didn't begin running until 2008, when Berkshire County authorities first learned of the abuse.

The Albany Diocese permanently banned Mercure from ministry in August 2008, which meant that Mercure could no longer function as or present himself as a priest, according to diocesan spokesman Ken Goldfarb.

Church officials in Albany said they're hopeful the Mercure case might encourage other clergy abuse victims "to report the abuse immediately and seek assistance."

After the verdict, a member of the jury that convicted Mercure spoke briefly to reporters outside the courthouse. "I'm glad I served," said the woman, who declined to give her name or address, but plans to attend next week's sentencing. "Whatever the sentencing is, 100 times that wouldn't even scratch the surface for what he deserves," she said.

Video: Grand Jury Shows Audacity of Philadelphia Archdiocese

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEPvvyio1Rk


http://spirituallysmart.blogspot.com/2011/02/grand-jury-shows-audacity-of.html

Grand jury shows audacity of archdiocese

Probe of how the church investigates allegations against priests found it focuses mostly on its reputation and assets

By Monica Yant Kinney

If Catholic churches across the region took up a collection this Sunday and used it to hire lawyers to mislead victims of clergy sex abuse, would anyone give?

If a parish priest confessed that your tithing paid rapists to retire and funded interrogations that push innocents to suicide, would you demand a refund?

And knowing that dozens of area priests accused of abuse remain on the job in good standing with access to children, should you think twice about signing up your son for altar service?

The latest 124-page grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse makes abundantly clear that when it comes to predator priests, the Philadelphia Archdiocese blew its last chance to be believed.

Six years after another grand jury report forced contrition and so-called reforms, the archdiocese remains focused on protecting its assets and reputation above all else.

Victims who muster the courage to report their torment then must endure an investigatory process biased against them.

One young man was hounded into giving an in-person statement with a church staffer who immediately relayed the details to lawyers fearing litigation. Another victim was guilted into reliving his trauma while hospitalized after a suicide attempt, only to learn later that the archdiocese had used his confidences against him in the defense of his priestly abuser.

District Attorney Seth Williams, a proud Catholic, admitted that he had lost faith in his church's ability to do right by those it wronged. He now urges abuse victims to call or e-mail his office (215-686-8783, da.victimservices@phila.gov) rather than risk being wounded all over again.

"You do not need to go to the archdiocese first," Williams said.

Even the grand jurors - regular citizens honorably answering the call to seek justice - noted the audacity of the archdiocese's overseeing sex-abuse investigations:

"There is no other class of crimes where we expect the victims to rely on their assailants for a resolution."

Mistakes and intentions

Five years and five months ago, a different panel of grand jurors released the first report on sex abuse in the archdiocese. They found that church leaders had allowed dozens of priests to abuse hundreds of children for decades and harbored at least 63 known criminals.

Cardinal Justin Rigali condemned that report, especially the assertion that church officials knew exactly what they were doing when they protected pedophile priests over children.

"Mistakes are one thing," Rigali insisted. "Intentions are another."

That was 2005, and though the report did not lead to arrests, it forced the archdiocese to hire a respected victim advocate, establish a Review Board, and - significantly - begin reporting new allegations to law enforcement.

The church touted the "reforms," but made sure the new process was as sick and twisted as the old.

Turns out the archdiocese refused to adopt any of the victim advocate's recommendations. And that much-hyped Review Board - chosen by the cardinal himself - regularly deems accusations "unsubstantiated" even when priests flunk polygraph tests and the evidence against them is overwhelming.

In one fondling case reported by two victims, the Review Board sided with the priest even after hearing convincing corroborating testimony by several other former altar boys with clear memory of the cleric's obsession with sex.

"On July 24, 2008," the grand jury wrote, an archdiocesan staffer told 36-year-old victim "Ben" that the Review Board "could not substantiate his allegation. Less than a year later, Ben committed suicide."

Second time's a charm?

Last week, another group of truth-seeking strangers released a second sordid grand jury report on clergy sex abuse. This one led to the arrest of a Catholic schoolteacher and three archdiocesan priests on rape charges and a once-omnipotent monsignor charged with endangering the welfare of children.

Within hours, Rigali fired off another denial, this time of the stunning revelation that the archdiocese still refuses to pull priests from parishes after they are accused of sexually assaulting minors.

"I assure all the faithful," Rigali wrote, "that there are no archdiocesan priests in ministry today who have an admitted or established allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against them."

Parse that sentence with me, will you? It's a work of lawyerly art designed to lull Catholics into thinking their children are safe.

No active priest could have an admitted allegation, we now know, because as part of those "reforms," the archdiocese no longer bothers to question priests accused of sexual misconduct.

"The policy is not to even ask the abuser to speak," wrote the astonished jurors. "The explanation we were given for this policy is that it might 'put the priest in a position of admitting' his guilt."

The second part of Rigali's wiggle concerns established allegations. See above, then weep.

If two grand jury reports, failed lie-detector tests, repeat accusations, earnest witnesses, and victim suicides aren't enough to convince the archdiocese of priestly culpability in 2011, what is?

Philly DA Charges Priests, Teacher With Assault

This undated photo released by the Philadelphia
District Attorney's office shows Monsignor
William Lynn, who is charged with felony
endangerment, according to a grand jury report
released Thursday. Prosecutors say Lynn
transferred abusive priests to new parishes
with schools and youth groups without warning
parish officials.

PHILADELPHIA -- Two Roman Catholic priests, a former priest and a Catholic school teacher were charged Thursday with raping young boys, while a former high-ranking church official was accused of transferring problem priests to new parishes without warning anyone of prior sex-abuse complaints.

The charges stemmed from a two-year grand jury investigation into priest abuse in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the second such inquiry in the city.

In the rare, if not unprecedented, move, the grand jury charged Monsignor William Lynn with endangering children in his role as secretary for clergy under former Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.

Lynn, 60, had a duty to protect children in the five-county archdiocese and refer priests with known sexual problems for rehabilitation or prosecution, District Attorney Seth Williams said in announcing the charges.

"He instead lied to parishioners and went out of his way to reassign priests without telling pastors or principals . that they were pedophiles," Williams said.

Lynn's defense lawyer said the two endangerment counts should not apply because Lynn did not have any children under his care. He also questioned the merits of the counts, which carry a maximum 14-year prison term.

"We certainly don't concede for a moment that he knew he was putting children at risk," lawyer Tom Bergstrom told The Associated Press.

While American dioceses have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to abuse victims to settle civil lawsuits in recent years, criminal charges in clergy sex abuse cases have been rare.

People who were molested as children often wait for decades before gaining the courage to come forward - usually long after the statute of limitation for criminal charges has run out. A small number of accused clergy have been prosecuted and convicted since 2002, when the clergy sex abuse crisis erupted in the Archdiocese of Boston. However, no bishop or church administrator has been taken to trial over their failures to protect children from accused priests.

Lynn featured prominently in a scathing 2005 grand jury report that found 63 priests in the Philadelphia archdiocese had been credibly accused of child sexual assault over several decades while local church officials turned a blind eye. Frustrated prosecutors then concluded, though, that they could not file any criminal charges because the statute of limitations on the crimes had expired.

Pennsylvania has since revised laws to give child sex-assault victims more time to report abuse, while the archdiocese under Cardinal Justin Rigali has pledged to refer credible complaints to law enforcement.

The current case, referred by the archdiocese, involves two victims, one of them a boy who was allegedly abused by two priests and his sixth-grade teacher at St. Jerome Parish, starting when he was a 10-year-old altar boy in 1998.

The Rev. Charles Engelhardt, now 64, and the Rev. Edward Avery, now 68, both raped the boy in the church sacristy after Mass, the report charged. Engelhardt also allegedly gave the boy wine and showed him pornography. He later told Avery about the encounter, prompting Avery to demand that the boy perform a striptease act after Mass, followed by oral and anal sex, the report said.

Bernard Shero, now 48, his sixth-grade teacher the next year, raped him during a ride home from school, then made him walk home, the report said.

The victim, later plagued like many abuse victims by depression and substance abuse, reported the attacks years later.

Avery had been on the church's radar since at least 1992. That's when a 29-year-old medical student told the archdiocese that Avery, who frequently moonlighted as a disc jockey at city nightclubs, had abused him in the 1970s and 1980s.

Avery was sent to six months of sex-offender treatment, although his parish was told the leave was for unspecified "health" reasons, the report said. Despite the center's recommendation that he be kept away from adolescents or other vulnerable minors afterward, Lynn recommended him for a position at a parish with an adjacent elementary school, authorities said.

Bevilacqua agreed, but sent him instead to a different parish, St. Jerome.

Rigali succeeded Bevilacqua in 2003 and soon afterward deemed the medical student's abuse claims credible. He removed Avery from his priestly duties that December.

"That was five years too late to protect Billy (a pseudonym for the altar boy) - and who knows how many children," the report said.

According to the report, Bevilacqua could not be charged because there was no evidence linking him to the alleged cover-up of the assaults against these two victims. His lawyer told investigators the 87-year-old retired prelate suffers from cancer and dementia.

While investigating Engelhardt, authorities came to charge his predecessor at St. Jerome, the Rev. James J. Brennan, with raping a 14-year-old boy. The alleged abuse occurred during a leave of absence Brennan requested in 1996 to deal with what he called his own childhood sexual abuse, the report said.

The victim, a member of St. Andrew Church in the Philadelphia suburb of Newtown, later attempted suicide, the report said.

Lynn and other church officials had also been aware that Brennan, now 47, had a prior history of impropriety with minors, the report said.

And, even today, 37 accused priests in the archdiocese work in assignments that put them near children while complaints are investigated or, in some cases, deemed not credible, the grand jury found.

"We would have assumed, by the year 2011, after all the revelations both here and around the world, that the church would not risk its youth by leaving them in the presence of priests subjected to substantial evidence of abuse. That is not the case," the report said.

Lynn, now assigned to a parish in suburban Downingtown, and the four others were surrendering Thursday to await arraignment. A defense lawyer for Brennan did not immediately return a message; it wasn't immediately clear whether the others had lawyers.

Rigali vowed to take the grand jury report and its calls for further reforms seriously.

A lay Catholic group called BishopAccountability.org that tracks data related to the priest abuse problem praised Williams' decision to pursue church leaders.

"To date, not one bishop or church official has spent a single day in jail for enabling crimes against children," the group said in a statement.

"Victims of sexual abuse by clergy may find this news deeply painful. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. It is in this spirit that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is cooperating fully with the civil authorities in this and all related matters," Rigali said in a statement.

The Diocese of Manchester, N.H., averted criminal charges in 2002 by admitting it had harmed children when church officials transferred accused priests among parishes, and agreed to allow state prosecutors to audit the diocese's child protection policies.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati pleaded no contest in 2003 to charges of failing to tell authorities about sex abuse claims against priests, paid a fine and created a fund for victims.

Also in 2003, Phoenix Bishop Thomas O'Brien admitted he sheltered abusive priests in a deal that carried immunity from indictment for obstruction of justice. He agreed to institute reforms and cede some authority to other church officials.

Funeral held for Owensboro man who took own life after Facebook post on church sex abuse

David M. Jarboe Jr.

Updates: June 19, 2020: Former Catholic Diocese of Owensboro employee accused of sex abuse
May 2, 2019: Owensboro Diocese Recommends Permanent Suspension for Priest Accused of Sexual Misconduct
April 12, 2019: Owensboro Diocese releases names of priests accused of sexual abuse
March 1, 2019: Owensboro priest temporarily suspended after sexual abuse allegations
Sept 11, 2018: Owensboro Catholic Diocese confirms two sex abuse victims have come forward
Jan 17, 2018 Father Rev William Baer dies unexpectedly
May 21, 2017 Owensboro Priest Arrested On Child Sex Abuse Charges
Jun. 14, 2016 Owensboro Diocese Suspends Rev Freddie Byrd after sexual abuse allegations - Letter from Diocese
May 18th 2016: Daviess Co., KY priest suspended over allegations
March 15, 2016: *New Interesting Info about David Jarboe case*
February 12, 2011: Minnesota church won't investigate priest

Main Article Start: 

"Fr. William Bear---you get no thanks. You are an evil man. Period." (sic) The correct spelling is "Baer"

"Fr. Freddie Byrd---I forgive you"

"But let my life be a testimony. The abuse of this church is real. Let it be known. It doesn't make you a non believer. It doesn't jeopardize your fate. It's the right thing to do."

"People will always hurt you. But the worst of all always goes unseen. The real sins of these times are behind closed doors."

"Religion is not a bad thing. But destroying free thought is. However, never once will I ever agree with the molestation of children. And never once will I agree with an institution that chooses to not acknowledge it."

"And I hope this message will save at least one child from the pain and torment that I have gone through. A child is precious to God, and using your authority as a church official to take advantage of someone is one of the foulest things imaginable."

"Perhaps your parents don't see, perhaps those you know don't see, know that God sees. And God never forgets."

"So farewell. I have loved, I have lived, I have finally forgiven, I have no regrets. I am finally at peace."

-David M Jarboe Jr. (Excerpts of a message left on his facebook page right before being found with a gunshot wound in front of the "Blessed Mother" Catholic Church in Owensboro, Ky)

Rev Freddie Byrd

See Also: The Vatican Wages tremendous Immoral Attack on humanity. By Thomas Richards

Video of News Report from Kentucky Unfortunately the video was deleted (covered up) by the local news channel

OWENSBORO, Ky. — From the beginning to the end of his funeral Mass on Monday, loved ones celebrated David Jarboe Jr.'s generosity and friendliness even as they mourned his suicide last week after he left a Facebook posting on the “pain and torment” of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

An overflow crowd of family, former classmates and friends bade farewell to Jarboe at Blessed Mother Catholic Church, where he had been a member. It was outside the church on Thursday that Jarboe took his life, leaving the Facebook posting, which prompted the Roman Catholic Diocese of Owensboro to launch an investigation.

The diocese on Monday released more details on its probe, saying Bishop William Medley would engage an independent investigator as recommended by the diocese's abuse review panel at a special meeting on Saturday.

The diocese indicated no priests identified in the posting would be on leave at this point. The diocese also referred the matter to the Daviess County Commonwealth's Attorney's office. Commonwealth's Attorney Bruce Kuegel said he has referred the matter to Owensboro police.

But at Blessed Mother on Monday, the focus was on Jarboe's life. Speakers described an ebullient young man who played football at Owensboro Catholic High School, urged people to reach outside their social circles to befriend others, and lived out that message with his own example.

A fellow Owensboro Catholic graduate recalled how they and other high school students organized a presentation to younger students at Blessed Mother School on the value of friendship called “Kick the Clique.”

A priest who had been Jarboe's mentor while Jarboe was attending St. John Vianney College Seminary, located on the campus of St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minn., gave the main homily at Jarboe's own request. Jarboe had attended the seminary for three semesters between 2006 and 2008 when considering the Roman Catholic priesthood before later transferring to Western Kentucky University.

The priest recalled Jarboe as making friends with everyone he met. Jarboe, concerned about the lax religious habits of some students at the St. Thomas campus, helped organize a “last chance Mass” at 9:30 p.m. on Sundays at a campus chapel. What originated with a small group now attracts large crowds.

The priest said Jarboe resembled the biblical character of Jacob, who is described as wrestling with an angelic spirit in the book of Genesis. Jarboe, too, had his spiritual struggles, the priest said.

He acknowledged the shock and grief Jarboe's loved ones feel, and urged them to understand they did all they could to help in those struggles. He cited a Scriptural passage on the difficulty of understanding the human heart.

Mourners filled the church sanctuary, and several sat in an overflow room in the school, where a live video of the service was shown. Numerous priests attended, including Bishop Medley.

The Rev. John Meredith, pastor of Blessed Mother, said at the start that the service would be a celebration of Jarboe's life. “We are resurrection people,” he said. The liturgy included multiple references to Jarboe's salvation by baptism. He was buried at Resurrection Cemetery. (Update 4/12/19: John Meredith has been found to have credible accusations of child rape against him. ~Link ... Isn't it ironic that he officiated the funeral of a man who killed himself after claiming to have been sexually abused by depraved Catholic priests.)

Jarboe's note did not directly accuse any priests of abuse by name, but it did identify at least two by name elsewhere in the posting.

"Rev" William Baer

Jarboe referred to the former rector of St. John Vianney, the Rev. William Baer, as “evil.”

A University of St. Thomas spokesman said Baer had never been accused of sexual abuse, had had positive conversations with Jarboe and did not know what had prompted the post.

The spokesman for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis said Friday he knew of no investigation involving Baer, now a parish priest in Oakdale, Minn.

In Jarboe's note, he also said he forgave a parish priest in the Diocese of Owensboro. The note did not identify any specific offense. Jarboe was found with a gunshot wound on Thursday morning outside Blessed Mother and died later that day.

In a statement issued Monday afternoon, the diocese said the posting prompted the Saturday meeting of its 13-member review board, whose members include “lay psychologists, educators, law enforcement personnel, social workers, a practicing attorney, an Episcopalian priest, a woman religious and a canon (church) lawyer priest,” the statement said.

The board is chaired by Teresa Henry, a certified alcohol and drug counselor who works with juveniles, the statement said.

In the statement, the diocese pledged its cooperation.

Reporter Peter Smith can be reached at (502) 582-4469.

Delaware diocese settles priest abuse claims for $77M

By Associated Press

Lawyers involved with the Delaware Catholic Diocese of Wilmington's $77 million settlement with nearly 150 alleged victims of sexual abuse said the church's agreement to release unredacted documents is a historic step toward making sure it doesn't happen again.

And lawyers for the alleged victims said they will post the documents on the Internet.

"When people see the documents, they will be able to judge for themselves" how the church dealt with pedophile priests, attorney John Manly said.

The diocese agreed Wednesday to settle the lawsuits, which claimed child sexual abuse by dozens of diocesan and religious order priests dating to the early 1960s. Attorney Thomas Neuberger, who represented 99 of the 146 alleged victims, said they would each receive $530,000 on average.

Diocese attorney Anthony Flynn said church officials were pleased with the settlement.

"It's been a long struggle, but we've finally reached agreement," he said.
Delaware law created a two–year "lookback" window that allowed claims of abuse to be brought regardless of whether the statute of limitations had expired.

The abuse cases created a potential liability that drove the diocese to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009. At the time, it was the seventh U.S. diocese to file for bankruptcy since allegations erupted years earlier against Catholic clergy in Boston. Numerous multimillion dollar settlements between alleged victims and dioceses across the country have been reached in the aftermath.

The Wilmington Diocese covers Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland and serves about 230,000 Catholics.

The bankruptcy filing had delayed some trials, but Judge Christopher Sontchi ruled in August that lawsuits against several parishes could go forward.
On Dec. 1, a Delaware jury awarded $30 million in damages to a man who claimed he was abused by a priest — a verdict that was exceptional for both the amount and for finding the local parish liable, not just the diocese.

The lawsuit by John Vai claimed that he was abused repeatedly as a boy in the 1960s by Francis DeLuca when the former priest was a teacher at St. Elizabeth's parish in Wilmington.

Advocates for victims of clergy abuse said the value of the compensatory damages was the largest ever awarded in such a lawsuit in the United States and that a parish had never before been found liable for abuse.

Manly said he thought December's verdict played a role in the settlement. "The verdict made it very clear to diocese that things were going to get a lot worse," he said.

The Associated Press typically does not name victims of sexual abuse, but Vai has spoken publicly about the allegations and testified at trial.

Neuberger told the Wilmington News Journal that each victim also would benefit in the future from any settlement or judgment from lawsuits filed against religious orders including the Oblates, Capucians and Norbertines.

He expects that will produce another $80 million for the victim trust. The settlement still needs approval from the bankruptcy judge.