West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and former Bishop Michael Bransfield for knowingly employing child sexual abusers.
The Diocese operates six high schools and 19 elementary schools in the state. The Diocese published a report in November that listed 18 priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of children in the Diocese between 1950 and the summer of 2018. The list also included another 13 priests who were employed by the Diocese and were credibly accused of sexual abuse of children in other states.
The Diocese and Bishop are being sued under the Consumer Credit and Protection Act. The Diocese advertised that its schools “Provid[e] a safe learning environment.” The lawsuit claims that the Diocese failed “to safely deliver the educational and recreational services provided as advertised.” The lawsuit also charges the Diocese and Bishop of failing to warn of dangerous services for the purchasers of educational and recreational services. The lawsuit states that because the Diocese knowingly hired teachers and priests “who had been credibly accused of sexually abusing children,”the purchasers bough “inherently dangerous services for their children.”
The lawsuit seeks to prevent the Diocese from continuing to violate the Consumer Credit and Protection Act. Civil penalties are also sought against the Diocese and the former Bishop for “each and every willful and repeated violation”
Investigations by West Virginia began after Pennsylvania released a Grand Jury Report in August 2018 on abuse by Roman Catholic Church priests in the state. The Attorney General has stated that the full investigation has not yet been completed, partly due to lack of cooperation of the Diocese.
The Roman Catholic Church has been facing growing allegations of sexual abuse against children. In February 2017, an Australian report accused 7 percent of catholic priests of abusing children. In May 2014, the Vatican argued before the UN Geneva committee that the church’s responsibility for the international priest sex abuse scandal is limited.
