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Were you sexually abused as a child by a priest, deacon or any other member of the Catholic Church? You are not alone. We are here to help abuse victims. Stand up against your abuser and help prevent this from happening to someone else. Please fill out our confidential online contact form or call Toll Free 1-866-777-2557 and a Connecticut Sex Abuse Lawyer will get back to you within 24 hours to discuss your possible case. This is a free consultation. There is no cost to investigate and there are no legal fees unless you receive financial compensation at the end of the case. Making the call is sometimes the hardest step, but it is often a necessary step on the road to healing. Clergy Abuse Lawyer Connecticut
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Bridgeport Connecticut, like many other cities, has been caught up in the Church Sexual Abuse Scandal. In 2009, the state supreme court ordered the release of thousands of legal documents from lawsuits filed against predator priests by the NY Times.
Much of the controversy centered around the court’s decision to seal and keep secret many of the scandalous details surrounding the priests. The public policy behind do so is to ensure that a defendant can receive a fair trial. While this is an admirable aspect of American criminal justice, when it comes to child molestation cases you are really dealing with a powder keg. Victims demand justice, and the public at large is terrified that abuse many be continuing under their noses.
Clergy Abuse Lawyer Connecticut
One central theme that was established during the litigation was that the church took priests that were molesting young children and simply moved them to other churches, rather than reporting them to law enforcement. This raises several important issues. Number one, by keeping these crimes secret you are hindering the ability for the victims to receive justice. Number two, you are preventing law enforcement from doing a thorough investigation. When a crime is alleged, law enforcement needs to collect evidence and interview witnesses quickly. As more time goes by, it becomes harder if not impossible to prove that a crime has been committed.
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There were over 12,000 pages of files that the court eventually released. Yes, you read that right. 12,000 pages. For purposes of illustration, the Bible has 1,200 pages. Imagine 10 Bibles stacked on top of each other.
The documents were initially obtained in lawsuits filed in the 1990s by 23 victims, during the tenure of Bishop Edward Egan. Although the actual occurrences of abuse occurred ahead of his tenure, the documents suggest he knowingly shuffled predator priests into new jobs during this time period. While this may seem unbelievable to most, this is actually a pattern that has been demonstrated across the country. Lots of churches have done this unseemly behavior.
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