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Diocese of Lansing promises to name priests with credible child sexual abuse allegations

Between 1950 and 2002, the Diocese of Lansing paid $473,533 in compensation and therapeutic care to sexual abuse victims and their families.
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LANSING, Mich. - The Diocese of Lansing plans to release the names of priests and other religious leaders who sexually abused children.

The Diocese of Lansing plans to invite an external agency to review how sexual abuse allegations were handled and will publish the names of clerics who sexually abused children in the diocese, Bishop Earl Boyea said in a more than 1.700-word statement posted to the Diocese's website on Tuesday. The report from the external agency will be made public on the Diocese's website, Boyea said.

"It is important for victims to see the names of their abusers made public, and it helps victims who have yet to come forward see that they are not alone," Boyea wrote. "It is vital that victims are heard and that they come forward in order to begin the process of healing."

The announcement comes in the wake of Pennsylvania's investigation into sexual abuse by Catholic clergy members. An Aug. 14 grand jury report, which covered six of Pennsylvania's eight dioceses, said that church leaders in the state protected more than 300 "predator priests" for decades. More than 1,000 victims were identifiable from the church's own records, the report says.

Also, on Monday, Bishop Anthony B. Taylor of the Diocese of Little Rock in Arkansas revealed the names of 12 priests accused of sexual abuse of minors. The list was created through a reviewing personnel files and consulting an external review board.

Boyea said the Diocese encourages anyone will sexual abuse allegations to contact civil authorities.

"If a suspected crime has not already been reported to the civil authorities, we report the allegation and cooperate fully with law enforcement," he wrote.

In 2002, the Diocese of Lansing adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which, among other measures, established a victim assistance coordinator to help victims.

Under the charter, the Diocese created a review board that assesses credibility of claims, Boyea said. The diocese also trains people who have contact with children in its churches, schools and agencies to spot and report suspected abuse. The diocese also conducts background checks on all clergy, seminarians, workers and volunteers who interact with children in its parishes or schools.

The diocese is audited annually on its compliance with those measures, Boyea said.

Boyea said the most recent incident of sexual abuse of a minor by a member of the clergy from the Diocese of Lansing occurred before the Charter was adopted in 2002. All clergy members who have been found to have abused minors are either dead or permanently removed from ministry, Boyea said.

The Review Board is comprised of members of the clergy and professionals from law enforcement and mental health fields. Boyea, who has been Lansing's bishop since 2008, wrote that there hasn't been an instance where he hasn't followed the recommendation of the Review Board about the credibility of an allegation. Input from the Review Board and civil authorities is part of how the diocese determines if a living or deceased clergyman has a credible allegation against him, Boyea wrote.

As of 2014, the 10-county diocese of Lansing had about 196,000 parishioners.

Tashmica Torok, executive director of The Firecracker Foundation, a nonprofit that provides healing services to child survivors of sexual trauma and their families, said she was pleased with the efforts laid out in Boyea's announcement.

But Torok, who attends St. Casimir Catholic Parish, said the church and other institutions can do more to address power dynamics. Children need to be taught that it's OK to talk about abuse, even if it's done by people in power, and that they'll be believed if they come forward, she said.

“I have concerns with the structure and how communities of faith are taught not to question our leaders," Torok said.

Between 1950 and 2002, the Diocese of Lansing paid $473,533 in compensation and therapeutic care to sexual abuse victims and their families, according to a 2004 statement from then-Bishop Carl F. Mengeling.

In 2010, the Diocese settled a claim from a former Haslett resident for $225,000. That man claimed that the Rev. John Slowey sexually abused him while he was living in a St. Vincent home the priest founded in 1952.

That same year, Diocese officials said they believe that at least a half-dozen boys were molested by the Rev. John Martin, a Laingsburg priest.

Diocesan officials have said they will release updated settlement numbers as part of the external agency's final report.

Both priests were dead by the time the sexual abuse allegations were brought forward. As of 2010, there were nine priests that had been removed from ministry or had claims made against them after their death since the Lansing diocese was founded in 1937.

Toward the end of Boyea's Tuesday statement, he noted that the fact most victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy have been boys and men has raised the question within the church of whether the problem has ties to homosexuality.

"Homosexuality is not the same as child sex abuse," Boyea wrote.

"It is a sin for anyone to engage in sexual activity outside of marriage," he continued. "When clergy members are not chaste and break the promise of celibacy, whether with males or females, it is not only a sin, but a betrayal of promises made to God."

Boyea's announcment comes just a few days before the Diocese of Lansing hosts its "Made For Happiness Assembly" at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.

The event, which will be held on Sept. 22, will include thousands of Catholics from across the Diocese of Lansing, according to the diocese's website.

"We pray for Christ to heal these wounds to the victims and to his entire Church," Boyea wrote in closing. "We implore the Holy Spirit to be at work in each of us so that all souls can be one with our Father in heaven."

Contact reporter Haley Hansen at (517) 267-1344 or hhansen@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @halehansen.

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