Diocese of Scranton Accused Priests

Over recent years, the Diocese of Scranton faced numerous lawsuits concerning child sexual abuse allegations. In 2018, the Office of the Attorney General in Pennsylvania conducted a two-year grand jury investigation into accusations of sexual abuse of minors within six of the eight Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania. After the investigation, the team published a Grand Jury Report, listing 59 offenders in the Diocese of Scranton and containing detailed information about each claim and each priest listed.

The grand jury also discovered that many diocesan administrators became aware of these accusations and the conduct of members of the Diocese yet still placed the priests in ministry after victims came forward with their complaints. In addition, the Diocese often entered into settlement agreements with the victims, ensuring their silence by including confidentiality addendums forbidding victims from speaking out once they accepted payment. The grand jury also discovered that several diocesan administrators dissuaded victims from reporting to police or conducted their own biased investigations without reporting the criminal allegations to the appropriate authorities.

Since the publication of the Grand Jury Report, many survivors of childhood sexual abuse have filed multiple lawsuits against the Diocese of Scranton. In August 2020, the Diocese faced more than two dozen lawsuits containing child sex abuse allegations against clergy members. In October 2020, just two months later, eight more lawsuits came against the Diocese. Finally, in January 2021, another victim filed a case against the Diocese, listing a former priest also included on the Grand Jury Report as their abuser.

After the Grand Jury Report and its findings of the cover-up by the Diocese, the Pennsylvania-based religious organization spent its time trying to recover from the accusations. In August 2018, the Diocese of Scranton published a list of individuals for whom allegations of sexual abuse of a minor had either been admitted, established, or deemed credible. The list includes priests, members of the religious order, and lay employees who have either served or resided in the Diocese of Scranton.

The Diocese’s decision to publish the information was to promote transparency within the Diocese and encourage sexual abuse victims to come forward and tell their stories. To corroborate the allegations and include an individual accused of child sexual abuse on the list, the Diocese conducts secular legal proceedings and canon law proceedings, accepts self-admissions by the accused, and uses other evidence provided by victims. The Diocese periodically updates this list to include recent discoveries.

In January 2019, the Diocese of Scranton launched an Independent Survivors Compensation Program to compensate survivors of childhood sex abuse. The program operates completely independent of the Diocese and provides relief to all victims, regardless of whether their abuser was a clergy member, from a religious order, or just an employee of the Diocese.

Survivors who had not yet reported the abuse were eligible to participate until July 22, 2019, the deadline to register their claim. Survivors with already reported claims had until September 30, 2019, to submit their claim for compensation to the program.

The program is overseen and reviewed by an Independent Oversight Committee made up of three individuals with relevant healthcare, law enforcement, and social work backgrounds. After the program concluded, victims had submitted 295 claims, with 249 determined eligible for compensation. The program paid out a total of 213 claims at almost $24.5 million provided to claimants.

Pennsylvania recently extended the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse victims to file for civil relief in response to the grand jury investigation. State law currently allows survivors to file civil lawsuits for compensation until their 55th birthday. Previously, the law cut off civil claims after the survivor turned 30.

State lawmakers are working on a look-back window, similar to New York and California, to enable childhood sexual abuse survivors of all ages to file civil lawsuits within a two-year period, regardless of how long ago the abuse happened. Pennsylvania citizens can expect to see the outcome of such legislation efforts in late 2022 or early 2023.

If you suffered child sexual abuse by clergy members in the Diocese of Scranton, you should contact a sexual abuse lawyer to discuss your case and determine your options for compensation. You deserve to have closure and receive justice against your abuser and the institution that allowed your abuse to happen. Healing from childhood sexual abuse is a long-term feat, and you have a right to seek help to aid in your ongoing recovery.

Contact our compassionate and determined lawyers at Herman Law today for a free consultation to learn about your legal rights and begin pursuing justice for the harm you endured.