Washington AG to investigate Catholic Church's handling of child sex abuse allegations
KOMO News Staff | Komo News | May 9th, 2024
SEATTLE — Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Thursday an investigation into the Catholic Church's handling of child sexual abuse allegations.
Ferguson, survivors and advocates spoke during a press conference in Seattle.
Ferguson announced that he is taking the Catholic Church to court, saying that the Archdiocese of Seattle refuses to hand over documents on child sexual abuse committed by priests.
In a statement, the archdiocese expressed surprise, adding that it has been working with investigators ever since the AG requested the files last summer.
Ferguson said the church's cover-up continues.
“We have received no information that has not already been made available to the public. That is not good enough,” Ferguson said during a press conference. “All survivors deserve to be heard and we believe the truth will help survivors heal and help bring them closure."
The archdiocese has previously released the names of 83 priests who it said are credibly accused of committing sexual abuse, but not the files behind those names.
Advocates for sex abuse survivors like Tim Law said it's time to share the truth.
“It saddens me that the archdiocese isn't being a leader in child protection. They should be in the forefront of this issue, not backpedaling all the time,” Law said. “Very sad that they are requiring Attorney General Ferguson to go to court to get information that we are entitled to."
Ferguson wants to see if the church used charitable trust funds to cover up sexual abuse by priests. The archdiocese has claimed religious exemptions.
Attorney Michael Pfau, who has represented hundreds of abuse victims, said church leadership followed a regular pattern.
“There were abusive priests, the police were not involved, they weren't called and child protective services weren't called. Sadly, not in every case, but priests were moved from one parish to another,” Pfau said.
After the attorney general’s news conference, the archdiocese released the following statement:
“The Archdiocese of Seattle supports the idea to “do the right thing” as mentioned by Attorney General Bob Ferguson in today’s press conference. As stated before, the Archdiocese of Seattle welcomes this investigation because we have a shared goal of abuse prevention, healing for victims and transparency. We have been collaborating with the Attorney General’s legal team on the shared legal analysis, which is common for investigations like this. Today’s press conference was a surprise to us since we welcome the investigation and have been working closely with the Attorney General’s team for months now.
"In fact, earlier this year the Archdiocese of Seattle asked the Attorney General’s Office if we could hold a joint press conference to announce this investigation and share our sincere desire to cooperate so that we can transparently share information without divulging the privacy of victims and re-traumatizing them. The Attorney General’s Office denied this request, stating that they do not speak publicly about ongoing investigations.
"The Attorney General’s claim that we have not “shared a single document that is not public” is not how we see it. In fact, on Monday of this week we offered to submit a series of private deposition documents. The Attorney General’s office responded that they are not interested in these private documents.
"There were a few additional statements in today’ press conference that were inaccurate and we wish to provide accurate information. Specifically, there were comments made about how we are hiding victim stories and not meeting with victims “face-to-face”:
"The information in our files comes directly from victims and their families. Given this, there is no effort to hide these victim stories from the victims themselves, as insinuated during the press conference. They know their story and what was shared with us.
"Furthermore, each victim is offered pastoral care, which includes an invitation for a face-to-face meeting with the Archbishop and Victim Assistance Coordinator, among other options to facilitate healing.
"Furthermore, we agree that sexual abuse is wrong. We do not deny that there was abuse in our local Archdiocese. We share the common goal to prevent abuse and provide a path for healing for victims and their families. We are committed to transparency – but must do so in a way that does not retraumatize victims”
Ferguson said what the church is doing is inconsistent with its own teachings.
“And that as a Catholic is so disturbing to me," Ferguson said.
The attorney general has requested a court date of May 22.
In February, KOMO News reported about information that indicated leaders of Washington’s Catholic dioceses were subpoenaed. The attorney general's office declined to comment at the time.
Two groups — Ending Clergy Abuse and Catholic Accountability Project (CAP) — gathered outside Ferguson's Olympia office on Feb. 13 calling for the AG to investigate the church.
CAP "welcomes the Attorney General’s announcement of the commencement of a civil investigation into clergy sexual abuse and cover-up within the three dioceses of Washington state," the group said in a statement Thursday morning. "The group expects that Ferguson’s investigation will extend to Catholic religious orders.
"Survivors of clergy abuse and advocates have long called for such an investigation as an essential step towards achieving justice and accountability for victims who have suffered immeasurable harm at the hands of members of the clergy and bishops who concealed their crimes."
In addition to the Archdiocese of Seattle, Ferguson’s civil investigation also focuses on the Diocese of Spokane and the Diocese of Yakima. Ferguson said the Spokane and Yakima dioceses have refused to provide documents, but the AG’s office is not yet seeking court orders to force them to comply.