Clergy Abuse Survivors in Maryland Can Take Legal Action Starting October 1
(St. Paul, MN) – Today, the Maryland Attorney General released redacted names from its initial report on child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The redacted report appends the Maryland Attorney General’s report, which revealed 156 clergy, seminarians, deacons, and employees of the Archdiocese of Baltimore that allegedly abused approximately 600 victims.
“We demand the Catholic leadership in Baltimore to release the secret documents about clergy abuse in the Archdioceses,” said attorney Jeff Anderson. “Survivors in Maryland have been waiting decades for accountability and transparency, and they deserve more.”
The updated report has new names of eight clergy or lay perpetrators accused of sexual abuse while assigned to the Archdiocese of Baltimore:
- Father Joseph Fiorentino – Accused of sexually assaulting minor female parishioners at Our Lady of Pompei in Baltimore between 1973 and 1977.
- Sister Catherine Hasson – Accused of sexually abusing a six-year-old female student at St. Katharine School in Baltimore in 1944.
- Thomas Hudson – Accused of attempting to sexually abuse a minor student during a camping trip in 1976. Hudson was a Deacon and teacher at St. John’s High School in Frederick, Maryland.
- Father John Krzyzanski
- Father Sam Lupico
- Brother Ronald Nicholls – Accused of sexually abusing a minor male between the ages of 10 and 12. Brother Ronald Nicholls was a family friend to the victim and groomed the victim by purchasing gifts and bringing him to ball games.
- Father Joseph O’Meara – Accused of sexually abusing multiple minor females during his tenure as a priest in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. O’Meara retired in 2010.
- Michael Scriber
Starting October 1st, the statute of limitations has been eliminated for survivors of sexual in Maryland. Victims of clergy abuse can take legal action no matter how old they are or when the abuse occurred under the historic Maryland Child Victims Act.
“It’s time. It’s time to provide accountability for the survivors. It’s time for reckoning to expose the dangers of the past and present,” said attorney Jeff Anderson. “It’s time to expose the institutions such as the catholic church and bishops that have enabled and protected offenders.”