The attorney for a man who reached a $3 million settlement Thursday of a sexual abuse lawsuit against the Diocese of Scranton said he had some “bombshells” planned for the church had the trial continued.Attorney Daniel Brier said he thinks church officials realized after two days of testimony that their defense in the case of the Rev. Albert Liberatore was weak, and they opted to settle for one reason.
“The magic word was fear,” Brier said. “They were afraid a jury in Northeastern Pennsylvania was finally going to hold them accountable.”
The settlement, reached after the conclusion of testimony on Wednesday, does just that, Brier said. It also sends a message to the Catholic Church community nationwide, he said.
“This case from the beginning has been about one thing: the responsibility, legal and moral, that every one of us, including the Catholic clergy, has as adults to protect children,” Brier said.
“I can’t imagine, after the testimony in this case, that they don’t have a better understanding of that today than they did before.”
In a prepared statement, Bill Genello, spokesman for the diocese, said the diocese “wishes to express its deep regret and sincerest apology to the victim and his family.”
“The diocese fully accepts its responsibility toward this victim and our hope is that true healing can commence now that a settlement has been reached,” the statement said.
Court settlements involving private parties are usually confidential. Brier said the diocese was required to reveal the amount in accordance with a national Catholic Church policy that mandates settlements involving sexual abuse of minors be made public.
It was unclear Thursday how the diocese will pay the settlement.
In the statement, Genello said the diocese is self-insured, and carries excess insurance. He said some diocesan funding will be required, but stressed no parish funds will be used to pay the settlement.
Testimony in the case began Tuesday before U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo.
By Wednesday, Brier and his co-counsel, Donna Walsh, had called seven witnesses who provided damaging evidence against the diocese and individual defendants, former Bishop James Timlin and the Rev. Joseph Kopacz.
Three church workers and a friend of the boy’s mother had testified they had told several diocesan officials about serious concerns regarding Liberatore’s behavior with the boy, which included buying him expensive gifts, taking him on overnight trips and allowing him to sleep in his room at the rectory overnight.
Despite that, no church official ever questioned the boy or his mother, relying instead on Liberatore’s assurances that nothing inappropriate was occurring.
The case had focused in particular on the lack of action taken by Timlin, who was described as being extremely close to Liberatore.
In a brief interview after the settlement was announced, Timlin said he wished he had had the opportunity to take the stand to defend himself.
Despite that, he said he was pleased the case had been settled and that he had “nothing but the best of wishes for the victim and all involved.”
Liberatore pleaded guilty in 2005 to indecent assault and several related offenses for fondling the victim on numerous occasions starting in 1999, when the victim was 14.
The abuse continued until 2002, when the teen told his mother. The victim, now 23, filed suit in federal court in 2004.
Testimony revealed Liberatore first got involved in the boy’s life while Liberatore was pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Duryea.
The boy, then 12, and his mother had turned to the church for emotional support as they dealt with a serious neurological disease afflicting the boy’s father.
In an interview Thursday, the victim’s mother described Liberatore as a master manipulator.
“He knew my son was vulnerable to a father figure and he took total advantage,” she said.
Once she learned her trust had been violated, she became so sick that “I couldn’t function,” she said. The settlement allows her to “finally see the end come to the years of suffering my son went through,” she said.
Brier, who is Catholic, said he was deeply disturbed by information he uncovered while investigating the case.
That information included documents that showed that, a few years before Liberatore’s crime, a different diocesan priest who had admitted molesting two boys was returned to another parish, where he molested a third boy.
That case never became publicly known. Had his client not come forward, it’s likely Liberatore’s actions also would have remained secret.
“Donna Walsh and I could not be more proud of my client and his mother for having the courage to come forward in this community and hold the Catholic Church accountable for its wrongdoing,” Brier said.
“I think the Catholic Church became more transparent today.”
The importance of that hit him particularly hard Thursday morning, he said, as drove his own 12-year-old son to school.
“I looked over to my son and thought, it’s gotta be a safer place today.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce