Media Statements

We applaud the brave young girl who came forward in 2015 to report abuse at the hands of a camp counselor in suburban Chicago. It is incredibly rare – and challenging – for young victims of child sexual abuse to report, but thanks to this brave victim and her family we are confident that many other children have been spared the lifetime scourge of child sexual abuse.

The Catholic Dioceses of Buffalo and Rochester are suing the federal government over the disbursement process for SBA funds. Both have been refused help because they initiated bankruptcy proceedings prior to their request for assistance. We find it ironic that institutions that uses technicalities at every turn is upset that the law is not working in their favor this time.

A new child sexual abuse and cover-up lawsuit has been filed against a children’s home in North Carolina by a man who says he was abused by his caregivers there. We applaud this brave survivor for coming forward and sharing his story and hope that it helps bring others forward and on a path towards healing.

A new child sexual abuse and cover-up lawsuit has been filed against church officials in Pittsburgh. We applaud the brave survivor for coming forward and call on church officials to do immediate outreach.

Catholic officials in Harrisburg, PA, have quietly posted an additional list of clerics accused of sexual abuse.

Two new child sexual abuse and cover-up lawsuits have been filed against the Diocese of Charlotte, NC. We applaud these brave survivors for coming forward and sharing their stories and hope they are able to find justice and healing.

In a surreal move, Catholic officials have removed from ministry a pastor who has been critical of the Church’s response to cases of child sexual abuse. During the current pandemic, it seems particularly important to us that priests are able to reach out to their parishioners using social media. 

We are disappointed that a court-appointed special master has chosen to avoid bringing “embarrassment and public scrutiny” to public relations staffers who reportedly helped the Archdiocese of New Orleans cultivate its woefully inadequate list of accused priests. This case deserved the openness and transparency that will better protect children and support survivors, not concerns about the reputations of the powerful. We hope the judge will reject the special master’s recommendation and instead release the emails to the public.

We are dismayed and heartbroken that Cardinal George Pell has successfully challenged his conviction for sexually abusing two choirboys and will be freed from prison. Once again, the powerful have won and the prize is the continuation of the Catholic Church’s tradition of abuse obfuscation and minimization. Our hearts ache for the surviving accuser in this case, and we hope that this disappointing ruling does not deter other victims from coming forward to report their abuse.

As if we needed more examples that institutions cannot police themselves, the United States Tennis Association has provided the latest reason why all allegations of sexual abuse must be reported to and investigated by independent law enforcement officials.