At a news conference on Tuesday, July 21, attorneys will disclose and discuss - a 180 page deposition of the second highest ranking bishop in the Chicago Archdiocese about clergy sexual abuse, and the settlement of six child molestation cases involving the Chicago
archdiocese and four priests.
The attorneys have represented hundreds of adults who were molested as kids by religious authority figures and who deposed top archdiocesan officials
Six child sex abuse and cover up cases against the Chicago Catholic archdiocese have been settled involving four priests
For the first time ever, a 180 page deposition of Cardinal Francis George's long-time top aide will be released. From 1987-2004, now-retired Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Goedert was a top ranking archdiocesan chancery official, described by the Sun Times as the "Number 2" man under two cardinals. He retired in 2003, after dealing with dozens of proven, admitted and credibly accused clerics.
The offenders involved in the settlements are: Kenneth Ruge, Norbert Maday, Fr. Robert Becker, and Fr. Russell Romano. One of them (Romano) has never been named in the news media as an accused child molester. Two of the priests (Romano and Maday) are still alive, only one (Maday) has been defrocked. One case was a civil lawsuit (against Maday, filed in 2006). The others were not formally filed in court. All were settled through mediation and the victims are expected to receive checks this week.
Maday was the first Chicago archdiocesan predator priest to go to prison, having been convicted in 1994 of molesting two Wisconsin boys and sentenced to 20 years. Now, state authorities there are seeking to have him declared a sexually violent person and a jury trial about that is scheduled for 11/10/09. Last year, in other church documents, it was revealed that Cardinal George tried to get Maday released from prison as recently as 2000.
The last similar group settlement announcement against the Chicago archdiocese was last August and involved the same attorneys.
A copy of Goedert's deposition will be available at www.andersonadvocates.com. At 11:00 a.m. central time on Tuesday, a user-friendly, annotated version of the deposition (with photos, links and extensive table of contents) and related documents can be found at http://www.bishop-accountability.org
Goedert's deposition was taken in November 2007.
Source: Jeff Anderson & Associates
Published by Mike Hitchen,
Putting principles before profits
Child Abuse Sexual Abuse Child Exploitation Catholic
Putting principles before profits
Child Abuse Sexual Abuse Child Exploitation Catholic
