The diocese may change its stance but believes that while investigations are ongoing it is premature to release the names, a church spokesman says.
According to Newsday, the Diocese of Rockville Centre will not release a list of priests credibly accused of sexually abusing children although it may do so in the future, church officials said Monday.
The decision is in contrast with those of the Archdiocese of New York and other dioceses around the country which have published such lists.
“At this time, the diocese believes that while the investigations of claims and allegations are ongoing, it is premature to release a list of accused clergy,” though it remains under consideration, said Sean Dolan, a spokesman for the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
He added that “not a single priest or deacon of this diocese is currently in ministry who has been the subject of a credible and substantiated claim of abuse against a minor,” and that the diocese turns over to law enforcement any allegations of sexual abuse against minors by clergy.
Lawyers for sex abuse victims criticized the decision not to release the list.
“That choice is a continuation of the conspiracy of silence that that diocese and its officials including the bishops … have been perpetuating for decades,” said Michael Reck, a Manhattan-based attorney who represents clergy sex abuse victims in the diocese.
“It flies in the face of the child protection movement and it fails to provide any healing for the survivors who have already been hurt and does nothing to protect children today,” Reck said.
On Friday, the Archdiocese of New York identified 115 priests and five deacons who had been accused of sexually abusing children. It was one of the largest disclosures to date by the church. It added to the hundreds of other names divulged by dioceses and religious orders across the country in recent months as the church wrestles with a sex abuse scandal that continues to roil Catholics.
Dioceses in Brooklyn, Newark and Hartford, along with the Jesuit province that includes New York, also have released similar lists.
Many dioceses and orders began releasing the names of suspected abusers after a grand jury report released last summer detailed decades of allegations in the Catholic church in Pennsylvania.
“The right thing to do for victims and future generations of children is to be completely transparent,” said nationally recognized sex abuse attorney Jeff Herman. “But the reality is the church continues to cover up child sex abuse,” he said.
In 2019, New York passed the Child Victims Act which will allow victims of child sexual abuse to seek justice and find healing. Under the new law, victims will have a limited one-year window beginning on August 14, 2019 to file a civil lawsuit no matter when the abuse occurred. This is a start to resolving years of corruption and cover-up that have traumatized so many.
Jeff Herman is a nationally recognized trial lawyer and fierce advocate for survivors of sexual abuse. If you are a survivor of sexual abuse in New York, Herman Law may be able to help you achieve long overdue justice. Please contact us today to discuss your options.
