Diocese faces push in court for abuse files
A southwestern Ohio attorney has filed a motion seeking to compel the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus to release information about clergy members accused of sexual abuse.
The diocese said in September that it would release to the public a list of credibly accused clergy members, following a national trend, but it has not yet done so.
Lebanon attorney Konrad Kircher filed the motion to compel discovery from the diocese in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Friday. He is representing a former student at St. Charles Preparatory School in Bexley who said the late Monsignor
Thomas Bennett, a St. Charles teacher for more than 40 years, molested him in the 2002-03 school year.
In his motion, Kircher asksfor all documents that refer to allegations of sexual contact, misconduct or exploitation by clergy members since 1950. He originally requested the documents in late September.
The diocese has notprovided the files, according to court records,saying that some are not relevant to the case and othersare protected by, for example, attorneyclient privilege. Other requests were too broad or vague, the diocese argued.
In the early 2000s, Kircher said, a judge ordered the Archdiocese of Cincinnati to provide all of its relevant files on sexual abuse in a case he fought there.
Kircher said the Columbus Diocese’s files are relevant in this case because the Roman Catholic Church and the diocese have known about theproblem of clergy sexual abuse of children for years.
“This is in the aftermath of all the revelations of the ‘Spotlight’ series from the Boston Globe,” Kircher said, referring to the investigative series that was later the subject of a movie. “Why I want these files is to show the church was aware of similar allegations yet failed to warn the public, failed to protect children.”
The lawsuit, which was filed July 5,involves 30-yearold Kevin Heidtman, who said he was sexually molested six times by Bennett while Heidtman was a freshman atthe all-boys Catholic school. Since the filing of the suit, two other people have come forward alleging abuse by Bennett, Kircher said.
The suit names the Columbus Diocese, Bishop Frederick Campbell and St. Charles.it does not name Bennett because hedied in 2008. Heidtman, who has changed his last name since moving from Columbus, is listed only as John Doe.
The diocese said Friday that itdoesn’t comment on pending legal matters.
When questioned at a Jan. 31 news conference— the day the Rev. Robert J. Brennan was named the Columbus Diocese’s next bishop — Campbell said the diocese was still compilingthe list it had promised to publicly release.
Campbell addedthat the diocesan chancellor is looking back as far as 1868, when the diocese was formed.
“We wanted to be very careful with it because of all the emotion, all the questions that will surround it,” he said then.
At the time, Campbell gave no date for the list’s release.
Many U.S. dioceses released information about accused clergy members or pledged to do soafter a Pennsylvania grand jury report released in August detailed widespread child sexual abuse in the Catholic churches in much of that state. The two-year investigation found that more than 1,000 children had been sexually abused by more than 300 priests.
Since August, almost 50 dioceses — including the other five dioceses in Ohio — and religious orders have publicly identified priests, and 55 more have said they plan to do so in the coming months, The Associated Press reported last month.
Several other allegations that have arisen in the past year against former or current Columbus clergy members include:the Rev. James Csaszar, accused of questionable communication with a child while serving in New Lexington in Perry County; the Rev. Pierre Albalaa, the administrator for Sacred Heart Church in Italian Village, accused in June of abusing a minor in California in 2004; andsister Lisa Zuccarelli, a nun with the Dominican Sisters of Peace who taught at Fisher Catholic High School in Lancaster in the 1980s, accused in July of sexually abusing a student 36 years ago.
Anyone who might have experienced sexual abuse by those associated with the Roman Catholic Church is encouraged by the Diocese of Columbus to contact law enforcement and the diocesan Victims’ Assistance Coordinator at 614-2242251, or at helpisavailable@ columbuscatholic.org. Forms for reporting abuse can be accessed from the diocesan website: www.columbuscatholic.org.