Judge George Silver’s Order Protects Identities of Survivors, Allows Them to Bring Suit Under Child Victims Act Anonymously and Remain Private
The Jesuits’ Appeal Endangers Child Protection and Survivor Privacy
(New York, NY) – The Jesuits religious order has filed notice that it is appealing New York Judge George Silver’s recent decision allowing child sexual abuse survivors to proceed anonymously in civil lawsuits against the Jesuits and other private institutions in order to protect the privacy of survivors. The Jesuits’ decision to appeal the far-reaching order to protect innocent victims is troubling and shows that the Jesuits order will stop at nothing to protect itself instead of children, said attorney Jeff Anderson of Jeff Anderson & Associates.
“It is outrageous and disturbing that the Jesuits have continued to try to re-victimize the survivors who have been traumatized as youths and now trying to assert their rights under New York’s Child Victims Act,” said Anderson, the lead attorney for survivors in three cases filed in the Supreme Court of New York, New York County, in which Judge Silver issued his order.
In those three cases, the defendant Jesuits argued that the identity of the plaintiff survivors should be made public. Judge Silver rejected the Jesuits’ argument.
“The only reason the Jesuits are fighting so hard to out the victims’ identities in this case and all the other cases across the state of New York is to deter the survivors from asserting their rights under the Child Victims Act, and by doing so to continue to hide their offenders and the dangerous practices they continue to employ at the highest levels across the state,” Anderson said. “The only possible motive for the Jesuits appealing Judge Silver’s order—which allows survivors to proceed anonymously under the Child Victims Act—is to hurt the victims further and deter them from coming forward to assert their rights and have the truth known. This is just another attempt by the Jesuits to keep their secrets, hide the truth, hide their offenders and hide the identities of those that chose to hide the offenders.”
Anderson said he will fight to keep survivors’ names anonymous and will do all that he can to ensure that the Jesuits’ appeal is not successful.