Bnd.com reported today that three new clergy sexual abuse lawsuits were filed against two priests from the Belleville Diocese in Illinois. The three plaintiffs are aged 48, 46 and 42 and have accused two Catholic priests of abusing them in the 1970s.
The accused priests are Reverend Raymond Kownacki and Reverend Jerome Ratermann. Both priests are still living, but they were also both removed from priestly duties by the diocese in the 1990s after accusations of sexual abuse were brought against them. However, neither Kownacki nor Ratermann ever faced criminal charges for the abuse allegations.
These three separate clergy abuse lawsuits refer to a 1962 document called "On the Manner of Proceeding in Cases of Solicitation" that the survivors' attorneys say shows that the Vatican and the Catholic Church desired to keep sexual abuse evidence hidden, by "diligently stor[ing the evidence] in the secret archives of the Curia (Vatican Office) as strictly confidential."
It is important that clergy abuse accusations are taken seriously and given the proper legal attention in order to protect future children and minors from suffering the same circumstances. However, for those individuals who have already survived clergy abuse, there is help. Contact a priest abuse attorney at the Zalkin Law Firm to discuss your case.
