catholic school sexual abuse

Published on: April 18, 2019

New Jersey about to significantly extend the statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases

Victims of sexual abuse in New Jersey are anxiously waiting for Governor Murphy to sign a bill that was passed by the legislature and that would extend the two-year statute of limitations in civil cases for sexual-assault victims.

The bill which was passed on March 25 by both houses of the New Jersey State legislature significantly expands the statute of limitations in sexual abuse cases by giving victims until 55 year old to file a lawsuit if they were under 18 at the time of the abuse. (see the bill for details). The governor said he was supporting the bill.

The bill also offers a two-year window for any victim of sexual abuse in New Jersey who was previously blocked by the existing statute of limitations from bringing a case to bring one.

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Published on: February 15, 2019

Hundreds of sex abuse survivors are expected to sue the catholic church after NY Governor Cuomo signs the Child Victims Act into Law

By GGCRBHS&M

Yesterday was a historical day for victims of sexual abuse in New York as Governor Cuomo signed the Child Victims Act into Law. This new law extends what was one of the most restrictive statutes of limitations in the country. Victims of childhood sexual abuse now have until 55 year old to sue their abuser while before the new law was signed, they only had until 23 year old to do so. Additionally a one-year “look back” period that will start in 6 months will allow all sexual abuse victims to sue their abuser even for cases that date from decades ago.

THE NY CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS AT LEAST 480 PRIESTS ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ABUSE BUT VICTIM ADVOCATES BELIEVE THERE ARE FAR MORE

A lot of victims are expected to come forward now that the new law has passed. Any New York school or youth organization that hired a child molester in the past could now be the target of a lawsuit. The New York catholic dioceses may face the most lawsuits. Among the 8 New York dioceses, 6 of them have publicly listed a total of 249 priests who have been accused of molesting a child. The only two dioceses who haven’t publicly identified sexually abusive priests are the Archdiocese of New York City and the Rockville Centre Diocese. In 2004 the Archdiocese of New York City announced that it was aware that 45 of its priests had sexually abused children but no names were revealed. The Rockville Centre Diocese also acknowledged that 66 of its priests were accused of sexually assaulted children but again no names were mentioned. Among the dioceses that published the names of their abusers, Buffalo had the largest list with 80 priests recognized as sexual abusers followed by 57 for Syracuse, 46 for Albany, 30 for Ogdensburg, 23 for Rochester and 13 for Brooklyn.

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Published on: January 31, 2019

New York schools reassure parents after the publication of a list of 50 Jesuits priests accused of abuse

By GGCRBHS&M

Many Jesuits priests accused of sexual abuse worked in NYC high schools according to a list released earlier this month by the Jesuits. Xavier, Regis, Brooklyn Prep and Fordham Prep which are among New York’s best catholic schools, all appeared to have hired priests who were identified by the Society of Jesus as having a history of sexual abuse found to be “more likely true than not after investigation.”

Alleged sexual predator was still teaching at Masters School

The allegations are from decades ago and 35 priests mentioned on the list have now passed away. Others have been removed from ministry or restricted from serving in public roles. Most of them have not been teaching for years. However one of them was still teaching at Masters Schools, a prestigious private school with no religious affiliation located in Dobbs Ferry, Westchester, just North of New York City. Up until a few days ago Robert Cornigans lived on campus and was an English teacher there. Cornigans who left the Jesuits in 1981 was hired by the school in 2004 despite allegations that came out in 2003 that he had abused a child in 1976. After the list was published he was immediately forced to resign and to leave his campus residence. The school sent a letter to the parents and the community to apologize and informed them that they would hire an outside firm to investigate the case.

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