Media Statements

Ryan Barry, a husband, and father living now in Pennsylvania, made the details of the abuse he suffered very public in an interview with Staten Island Live news outlet. Ryan accuses Fr. James Garisto of abuse that began when Ryan was a teenager in the 1990s. The clergyman was at the time a pastor, teacher, and school official at St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School. 

Last week Bishop Howard Hubbard, who headed the Catholic Diocese of Albany, New York, from 1977-2014, answered questions through his attorney for The Times Union newspaper. The Bishop told the paper that “When an allegation of sexual misconduct against a priest was received in the 1970s and 1980s, the common practice in the Albany diocese and elsewhere was to remove the priest from ministry temporarily and send him for counseling and treatment. Only when a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist determined the priest was capable of returning to ministry without reoffending did we consider placing the priest back in ministry. The professional advice we received was well-intended but flawed, and I deeply regret that we followed it.”

For decades, hundreds of proven predator priests have been sent – and continue to be sent - to the controversial, secretive Catholic center outside St. Louis where ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick now lives.

Janet Petersen, a state senator in Iowa, has been pushing for a retroactive "window to justice" that would allow victims of child sex abuse who have been time-barred to have the courtroom doors open to them. More importantly, this reform would also benefit communities across the state by revealing both "hidden predators" and those who enabled them. Her proposal passed through the judiciary committee in the last session but never arrived on the Senate floor for debate. 

A Catholic priest who later parlayed his position into a career in politics has been accused of sexually abusing a child while holding bible study sessions at a Bronx church. This type of story demonstrates the importance of ensuring abusers and enablers are identified because the career trajectory of these men can allow them to go on to hurt others.

Wellesley Massachusetts Police Detective Christopher Connelly today filed charges against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, making him the high-ranking Catholic official to face criminal charges for sexually abusing a child here in the United States.

The brave victim, who does not wish to disclose his identity, told authorities he was sexually assaulted by McCarrick during a wedding reception at Wellesley College in the 1970s. McCarrick has been summoned to appear for an arraignment in late August.

According to a new lawsuit, a wealthy donor from the Archdiocese of New Orleans attempted to use their vast resources to compel a survivor of childhood sexual abuse to stay silent, hoping to protect the reputation of the Church and the accused. This is a stunning example of how, even in 2021, people will still choose to rally around an abuser they know and like instead of a victim they do not.

It has been more than a week since Fr. Thomas Devery, Pastor of Our Lady Star of the Sea in Staten Island, penned a letter to his parishioners announcing that he was "stepping aside" from ministry following a second allegation that he had abused a child.  Yet as far as we can tell, there has yet to be a formal announcement from the Archdiocese of New York and Cardinal Timothy Dolan about this additional accusation.

The Catholic leader of the Diocese of Manchester in New Hampshire has been accused of abusing a 12-13-year-old boy in a recently filed lawsuit. SNAP, the Survivors Network is very concerned because it appears that the prelate remains in ministry. The survivors' group is also worried about what it might mean for other accusations made in the Diocese if the Bishop is himself an abuser.

We are grateful to the New York Child Victim Act. Bishop Peter Libasci is accused of abusing a young boy on numerous occasions in 1983 and 1984 while he was working at Saints Cyril and Methodius Church and School in Deer Park, New York, as a priest. That parish belongs to the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Without its "window to justice," the allegations against Bishop Libasci might never have come to light.

We are thrilled to learn that one of the most aggressive and effective attorneys general in the US will be taking a former Oakland County Catholic priest to trial for sexually assaulting a youth decades ago. Investigation and intervention from secular authorities is the best way to root out ongoing abuse, discover historical cases, and bring healing and prevention to communities.