He’s been called a scourge. A parasite. A media-monger hellbent on bringing
down the Catholic Church.
But the Minnesota lawyer who’s made a career of suing the most powerful
religious institution in the world over its handling of clergy sex abuse cases
pays no mind.
“I don’t care what people think, and I don’t try to control it,” said
Anderson, the lead attorney in civil fraud cases pending against the Archdiocese
of Milwaukee who is now representing those victims in the archdiocese’s
bankruptcy.
News & Events
A fraud lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of La Crosse that claims child sexual abuse four decades ago moved forward today.La Crosse County Circuit Judge Scott Horne denied the diocese’s motion to dismiss the complaint, in which a Plover, Wis., woman contends diocese officials knew a priest had a history of molesting children before he abused her in 1971.
In August of 2010, we filed a lawsuit against Pastor
Derstine, Gospel Crusade Inc. and Gospel Crusade Fellowship Inc., for sexual
abuse of Plaintiff, a minor, by Gerald Derstine at the Strawberry Lake Retreat
in Minnesota.
Earlier today the Archdiocese of Philadelphia placed 21 of
the 37 priests named in the recent Philadelphia Grand Jury Report and accused
of sexually abusing children, on administrative leave.
New York (CNN) — Attorneys said they will announce a new lawsuit Monday against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which has been the subject of a two-year grand jury investigation into claims officials ignored and covered up sex crimes against children.”The Lawsuit will allege that Archdiocese officials conspired to endanger the safety of the Plaintiff when they actively concealed their knowledge of (a) priest’s previous offenses, lied to parishioners, and created a sham sexual abuse victim assistance program for the Archdiocese,” according to a news release announcing the lawsuit. The lawsuit…
At a news conference on Monday in Philadelphia, prominent clergy abuse attorneys will announce a new lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and Cardinal Justin Rigali, as well as others within the Archdiocese, on behalf of a Delaware man who grew up in Philadelphia.
Lawyers representing victims of clergy abuse in the Milwaukee Catholic
Archdiocese announced Thursday that they are launching a monthlong media
campaign to encourage others who have been sexually abused in the archdiocese to
come forward.
At a news conference at the Pfister Hotel, lawyer Jeff Anderson said that
because the archdiocese had filed for bankruptcy protection, there will be a
short time frame for survivors of abuse by priests to come forward and make
their claims.
Therefore, he said, he and other lawyers representing survivors are mounting
an unusual outreach…
MILWAUKEE — A 2003 letter from then-Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan shows he was more concerned about the church’s reputation than the actions of an abusive priest, an attorney for nearly two dozen alleged Wisconsin sex abuse victims claimed Tuesday. But the archdiocese that Dolan now heads said the letter does just the opposite and shows Dolan was deeply concerned and wanted the priest, Franklyn Becker, dismissed. St. Paul-Minn.-based attorney Jeff Anderson obtained the letter, which he released Tuesday, as part of cases he handled in California involving Becker. Anderson has filed 14…
At a news conference on Thursday in Milwaukee, attorneys who
represent numerous victims of clergy sex abuse in the bankruptcy of the
Archdiocese of Milwaukee will announce the launch of an effort to reach out to
victims of clergy abuse and the importance of acting now.
Priest was diagnosed as a pedophile in 1983 but Milwaukee Archdiocese allowed Father Franklyn Becker to continue to work in…
St. Paul lawyer’s attacks on church show increasingly international reach
The
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued an unprecedented opinion today allowing our client’s case using the Alien Tort Statute to go forward. You can find the entire text of the opinion on our site. In denying Defendant Cardinal Roger Mahony’s and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, the Court permitted Plaintiff’s…
In a groundbreaking decision, a Federal judge in California today denied a motion by attorneys for the Catholic Church to dismiss a lawsuit based on a unique international law against two Cardinals and a priest for their roles in the sexual abuse of a Mexican man as a boy in 1997, saying the plaintiff has sufficiently plead rape and sexual abuse of children as “…cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment” and crimes against humanity.
Today, our firm and Anthony DeMarco, an attorney in Los Angeles, filed a suit on behalf of a courageous survivor who was abused as a young boy by a Salesian priest, Fr. Gerald Wertz, at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California. You can find a copy of the lawsuit here. Importantly, Fr. Gerald “Jerry” Wertz is still considered to be in ministry, and is residing in the Salesian Provincial House in San Francisco, adjacent to a high school with over 1,000 students.
In a recent blog post Archbishop Dolan is incorrect in claiming that we accused him of secretly “hiding” the assets referred to in his blog. The fact is, we simply stated that we had questions about certain financial moves made by the Archdiocese. Indeed, what he did wasn’t hidden. In fact, he and his financial advisors brazenly “moved” the assets out of the control of the Archdiocese in broad daylight—after the Wisconsin Supreme Court allowed some victims of clergy sexual abuse to sue the Archdiocese. We think we have grounds to be suspicious…