Today, our firm and Anthony DeMarco, an attorney in Los Angeles, filed a suit on behalf of a courageous survivor who was abused as a young boy by a Salesian priest, Fr. Gerald Wertz, at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California. You can find a copy of the lawsuit here. Importantly, Fr. Gerald “Jerry” Wertz is still considered to be in ministry, and is residing in the Salesian Provincial House in San Francisco, adjacent to a high school with over 1,000 students.
News & Events
In a recent blog post Archbishop Dolan is incorrect in claiming that we accused him of secretly “hiding” the assets referred to in his blog. The fact is, we simply stated that we had questions about certain financial moves made by the Archdiocese. Indeed, what he did wasn’t hidden. In fact, he and his financial advisors brazenly “moved” the assets out of the control of the Archdiocese in broad daylight—after the Wisconsin Supreme Court allowed some victims of clergy sexual abuse to sue the Archdiocese. We think we have grounds to be suspicious…
A case
filed today in Philadelphia by our office, as well as attorneys Dan Monahan
and Marci Hamilton, is brought on behalf of a courageous survivor who was
sexually abused as a child. The suit names ten defendants, including the
Archdiocese and Archdiocesan officials, alleging a conspiracy to endanger
children by actively concealing sexually abusive priests, and continuing the
priests in ministry despite known credible allegations of child abuse.
In
Philadelphia, three priests and a parochial school teacher are being charged for
sexually abusing two children and the Secretary for Clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is being
charged for endangering the welfare of children by knowingly allowing dangerous
priests to continue in ministry roles where they had access to children.
That is exactly what the Vatican stated when it was faced with accepting service of Terry Kohut’s lawsuit relating to the sexual abuse of hundreds of boys by Fr. Lawrence Murphy at the St. John’s School for the Deaf in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. According to a document filed in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the Vatican accepted service of the legal documents involved with the lawsuit and then, four days later, the Vatican contacted FedEx and asked FedEx to retrieve the package because the package was “undesired and unwanted.”
In a recently discovered internal Vatican document marked “Strictly Confidential” obtained by the Associated Press, the Vatican flexed its muscles over Irish bishops who adopted a child sexual abuse reporting policy that required making a police report. The policy in question required church leaders to report all child sexual abuse allegations by Irish priests to Irish law enforcement. According to a letter from the Vatican’s chief representative in Ireland, dated January 31, 1997, “the situation of ‘mandatory reporting’ [of sexual abuse] gives rise to…
A case filed yesterday (1.10.11)in United States District Court for the District of Minnesota puts the problem of sexually abusive pedophile priests in a global perspective.. The lawsuit, brought by a man who was sexually abused as an 8 year-old boy at his parish in Granite Falls, Minnesota by a priest named Francis Markey is a classic example of the national and international trafficking of pedophile priests. In 1982, when the 8 year-old was abused, Fr. Markey was known to..
A relative newcomer to the world of blogging, Jeff Anderson & Associates has created a new website that focuses on issues relating to combating child pornography. With the evolution of inexpensive technology that has caused an explosion in the production and availability of child pornography, no child protection effort can be complete without considering the role that child pornography plays.
Some of the blog postings include articles about the FBI’s efforts to detect and arrest sophisticated child …
“Today, Archbishop Jerome Listecki said the Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to fairly compensate victims/survivors of priest-predators and to allow the archdiocese to continue to meet the needs of parishes and parishioners.
“Incredibly, the Archbishop’s announcement left out the most important reason they filed for bankruptcy: To delay the legal process so they don’t have to reveal the names of the “priest-predators” and the Church officials who covered up the “priest-predators’” crimes. It is interesting that this a…
Every day, I’m proud of the brave women and men I represent. But today is special. A group of especially courageous and determined men who were assaulted as boys by a serial child molesting cleric are speaking out and shedding light on both child sex crimes and cover ups.
The Diocese of Winona is tagging along with the Archdiocese of
Minneapolis St. Paul in attempting to tax Jim Keenan with costs. This
time, the taxation is to the tune of $68,000 from the Diocese of Winona.
The Diocese of Winona is tagging along with the Archdiocese of Minneapolis St. Paul in attempting to tax Jim Keenan with costs.
The Diocese of Winona is tagging along with the Archdiocese of
Minneapolis St. Paul in attempting to tax Jim Keenan with costs. This
time, the taxation is to the tune of $68,000 from the Diocese of Winona.
At a news conference on Tuesday, a sexual abuse survivor, together with
his parents and wife, for the first time publicly explained why he
continues to fight to force the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
to disclose the identity of known pedophile priests.