“We hope and pray that this independent review and reparations process over the last two years has provided a measure of justice and healing for the survivors who came forward and shared their stories,” the statement said. Kapushion for three decades was director of Catholic Charities and helped found the Community Organization Program for young people of color.Īrchbishop Samuel Aquila and Bishop Jorge Rodriguez of the Denver Archdiocese, as well as Bishop Stephen Berg of the Pueblo Diocese and Bishop Michael Sheridan of the Colorado Springs Diocese, released a joint statement saying they are committed to protecting children moving forward. In other words, Kapushion was alive when Victim #1 reported his abuse, but the Pueblo Diocese waited until two weeks after his death to report him to the police.” “The Pueblo Diocese did not report Victim #1’s allegation to law enforcement until April 20, 2020. “Kapushion died on April 7, 2020,” the supplemental report said. In the case of Monsignor Marvin Kapushion of the Pueblo Diocese, his one identified victim reported in February of this year that he had been abused as a teenager at Sacred Heart Orphanage in Pueblo in 1984. While the church has touted its efforts to prevent and identify abusive priests in recent years, and it points out that no abuse has been identified in the past two decades, the independent investigation noted recent delays in reporting criminal behavior to law enforcement as is required by law. Of the 46 victims newly identified in the supplemental report, 16 were abused after the church knew the priest who abused them had abused others. The independent investigation found that 113 of the 212 child victims were sexually abused by 14 priests after the church had been warned about their behavior. Peter’s - the church knew or suspected a priest was abusive and yet still allowed him to continue his clergy work and, thus, to abuse. The state’s Catholic Church abuse report revealed the secret.īoth the original and supplemental reports paint a clear picture that in many cases - including St. MORE: A Denver priest - his dad’s best friend - raped him. “He’s ruining people’s lives even after he’s dead,” the victim, Neil Elms, told The Sun in January, “and that sucks that he still has that much … control.” Peter, whose abuse of one boy was chronicled in an in-depth story by The Colorado Sun earlier this year. One of those priests is the late Lawrence St. The supplemental report includes new allegations against 16 priests who were previously identified in the state’s first report on child sex abuse in the Catholic church, which was released in October 2019. There were no additional reports of sexual abuse by priests serving in Colorado Springs, Colorado’s third diocese. Of the newly identified abusive priests, five served in the Denver Archdiocese and four served in the Pueblo Diocese. “I recognize there isn’t one program or dollar amount that can make up for the trauma that many have been through in their lives, but my sincerest hope is that this unique Colorado program has allowed survivors of sexual abuse by a priest to take one more step on the path to healing and recovery.” “From the time we announced this program in February 2019, our goals were to support and comfort survivors of childhood sexual abuse by Catholic priests, and to bring meaningful change to how the Colorado dioceses protect children from sexual abuse,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a written statement. The vast majority of the abuse cases in Colorado would likely not be criminally prosecutable anyway because the state used to have a statute of limitations for child sex assault - it was eliminated in 2006 - that still applies to past cases. The review was not a criminal investigation and did not involve a grand jury, which is what led to a 2018 report in Pennsylvania that listed 301 abusive priests and prompted the discussions that led to Colorado’s review. The review and a subsequent claims process that paid 77 victims more than $7.3 million resulted from an agreement between the state’s three Catholic dioceses and the attorney general’s office. It’s a staggering toll that authorities have conceded may still not account for the true depth of the scandal. Attorney Bob Troyer discovered a total of 52 priests who were credibly accused of abuse - some of whom are still alive - and 212 victims.
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