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Were You Abused?
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. Priest Sexual 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. Missouri Priest Sexual Abuse Lawyer
PRACTICE OF MOVING ABUSERS TO DIFFERENT LOCATIONS
As a result of the various sexual abuse settlements across the United States, confidential personnel files of abusive priests have been released. One notable finding from these papers has been the extent to which bishops transferred priests from a parish in which they had been accused of sexual abuse to a new parish to continue in the ministry.
Bishops were found to have moved priests without offering a reason as to why. Priests were said to be on sick leave or suffering from exhaustion then quietly removed to another location. Priests accused of sexual abuse were protected from repercussions and continued receiving housing and living expenses. Even when a priest’s abuse became known to the community, he would be moved to a parish where no one knew of his abusive history.
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Bishops and other high level leaders within the diocese would keep the knowledge of a transferred priest’s actions to themselves, containing them in secret records within the diocese. Even priests who confessed to abusing children were returned to ministry often to abuse children in the new location.
One example found during the Pennsylvania grand jury investigation was Father Ernest Paone of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. In the first nine years of his ministry, Father Paone was transferred to five different parishes. In 1962, a pastor had to intervene to prevent Father Paone from being arrested for molestation, and the diocese’s response was to transfer him to a parish in a different city. Father Paone remained in the ministry with the support of the church until his resignation in 2003.
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Also in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Father George Zirwas was assigned to eight different parishes from 1979-1995 when he was placed on a leave of absence. Diocese records revealed that Father Zirwas began receiving accusations of child abuse against him in 1987 that continued until his leave of absence. In the Diocese of Scranton, Father Robert N. Caparelli was transferred to six different parishes after his ordination in 1964 until he was relieved of duties in 1991. Less than four years after beginning his ministry, the bishop was contacted by a police officer notifying him of Father Caparelli’s misconduct with two altar boys.
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Father Caparelli was transferred to another parish and reports of child abuse continued to follow him to subsequent parishes. Father Joseph M. Pease, from the Diocese of Harrisburg, was another example mentioned in the Pennsylvania grand jury report. Father Pease was transferred to a number of different parishes in his 40 years of ministry in the diocese despite facing multiple allegations of sexual abuse.
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