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If you were 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 you. Please fill out our confidential online contact form or call Toll Free 1-866-777-2557 and a Missouri Sexual Abuse Lawyer will get back to you within 24 hours to discuss your possible case. Help is available nationwide. There is no cost to investigate and there are no legal fees unless you receive financial compensation. Making the call is sometimes the hardest step, but it is often a necessary step on the road to healing. Clergy Abuse Lawyer Missouri
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Please call Toll Free 1-866-777-2557 or fill out our confidential contact form and a lawyer will get back to you within 24 hours to discuss your case. Clergy Abuse Lawyer Missouri
Resulting from various sexual abuse settlements across the America, secret personnel data files of abusive priests have been made available. One noteworthy finding from these records may be the extent to which bishops transferred priests from a parish in which they had been accused of sexual abuse to a new parish to remain in the ministry.
Bishops were found to have shifted priests without supplying a basis that explains why. Priests were reported to be on sick leave or experiencing exhaustion then quietly removed to another location. Priests accused of sexual abuse were shielded from repercussions and continued getting housing and living expenses. Even when a priest’s abuse became identified by the community, he'd be transferred to a parish where no one knew of his abusive track record.
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Bishops as well as other high level leaders from the diocese would hold the knowledge of a transferred priest’s actions to themselves, containing them in secret reports within the diocese. Even priests who confessed to abusing kids were returned to ministry often to abuse kids within the new site.
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An instance discovered in the Pennsylvania grand jury study was Father Ernest Paone of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. In the first nine years of his ministry, Father Paone was transported to 5 different parishes. In 1962, a pastor needed to intercede to stop Father Paone from being arrested for molestation, and the diocese’s reaction ended up being to transfer him to a parish in a different town. Father Paone continued to be in the ministry with the assistance of the church until his resignation in 2003.
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Also in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Father George Zirwas was issued to eight different parishes from 1979-1995 when he was placed on a leave of absence. Diocese records discovered that Father Zirwas started getting claims of child abuse towards him in 1987 that continued until finally his leave of absence. In the Diocese of Scranton, Father Robert N. Caparelli was moved to 6 different parishes after his ordination in 1964 until finally he was absolved of responsibilities in 1991. Less than 4 years after beginning his ministry, the bishop was approached by a law enforcement officer warning him of Father Caparelli’s misconduct with 2 altar boys.
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Father Caparelli was transferred to yet another parish and accounts of child abuse continued to follow him to subsequent parishes. Father Joseph M. Pease, from the Diocese of Harrisburg, was another case in point discussed in the Pennsylvania grand jury report. Father Pease was transmitted to several different parishes in his 40 years of ministry in the diocese despite facing a number of accusations of sexual abuse.
Clergy Sexual Abuse Lawyer Missouri
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