A Dominican priest accused of sexual misconduct with at least three minor boys has been criminally charged in Maryland and his religious order has been sued. The criminal charge stems from the case of a now 21-year-old Germantown, Md., man.
The Minnesota attorney who represented him in a civil abuse case settled in 2007 for a reported $1.2 million has now filed a civil suit against the priest and the Dominicans' New York-based province on behalf of the other two boys, who are brothers from Springfield, Mass.
Attorney Jeff Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., told Catholic News Service July 2 he has documented proof the Dominican provincial leaders knew about the Maryland allegations against the priest, but chose to keep him in active ministry involving youths in another part of the country.
Though Dominican officials would not comment for this story, a transcript of a videotaped deposition of the current provincial was made available to CNS.
In the deposition the superior said the priest remained in ministry because he did not deem the allegations credible at the time, nor had police uncovered concrete evidence of abuse. The priest was removed from ministry in 2005.
Though Dominican Father Aaron Joseph "A. J." Cote, 56, has been navigating the civil legal system for the past three years, this is the first time he has had to defend himself against a criminal charge, which is custodian child abuse, filed by the Montgomery County (Md.) Department of Police following several years of investigation.
Father Cote, who now lives in New York City, turned himself into Maryland police July 1, was arraigned July 2 and released on $250,000 bond, said Lucille Baur, a public information officer for Montgomery County police.
The priest is accused of engaging in "inappropriate personal sexual activity in the victim's presence and inappropriate touching of the victim" on several occasions between 2001 and 2002 with a then-14-year-old male parishioner of Mother of Seton Parish in Germantown, where Father Cote was serving as a part-time youth minister, Baur said.
Though the accusation was made to Montgomery County police in 2003, the department's spokeswoman said it's not unusual for investigations of this nature to take several years before charges are filed.
"I've been pursuing this guy for three years," said Anderson, referring to Father Cote, the case he settled last year involving the Germantown parishioner, and the case he filed in New York City against the priest and the Dominicans this past April. In that case a Springfield, Mass., mother claims her two young sons were molested in 2003.
Anderson took the Germantown parishioner's case in 2005 and in the past three years has interviewed priests and parishioners in Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and Chimbote, Peru. Some of them have made videotaped depositions stating they reported to Dominican superiors that they witnessed Father Cote behaving inappropriately with youthful males as far back as 1985-86, while he was still a seminarian.
Dominican officials in New York would not discuss Father Cote or this case when contacted July 2.
"We've been instructed by counsel not to have any comment about the case," said Dominican Brother Ignatius Perkins from the province's headquarters in New York City.
In a transcript of a videotaped deposition given by Anderson, the current head of the Dominican province -- Father Dominic Izzo -- said he didn't consider the Germantown allegation credible when it was first made, which is why Father Cote wasn't removed from his post as leader of youth ministry and youth retreats at St. Pious Priory in Providence, R.I.
Since a psychological evaluation of Father Cote didn't indicate he was a pedophile and the police had not uncovered concrete evidence of abuse at that time, the decision was made to keep him in active ministry, Father Izzo said in the deposition transcript.
"The investigation would have said that yes, this did happen on this date," he said in the deposition transcript. "That did not happen. And so we took the advice of professionals."
Father Cote was eventually removed from active ministry in 2005, about the same time the Germantown parishioner filed his civil suit in a Washington court.
Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, held a news conference July 2 in front of St. Dominic's Parish in Washington, and applauded the criminal charges brought against the priest.
"Today, our society is safer, because criminal charges are being brought against Father Cote," Becky Lanni of SNAP said in a prepared statement. "Victims of horrific child sex crimes are always tempted to keep quiet. But today's action proves that when victims find the courage to step forward, sometimes kids can be protected, predators can be jailed and justice can be done. But when victims stay silent, nothing changes, abuse continues and children suffer."
The Rockville, Md., attorney representing Father Cote, Terrance McGann, said the priest surrendered to police voluntarily, but the lawyer declined to comment further about the case.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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