{"id":15364,"date":"2024-05-09T21:58:29","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T04:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=15364"},"modified":"2024-05-09T21:58:31","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T04:58:31","slug":"washington-ag-investigating-clergy-abuse-says-seattle-archdiocese-wont-cooperate-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=15364","title":{"rendered":"“Washington AG investigating clergy abuse says Seattle Archdiocese won’t cooperate”, NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a petition Thursday to compel the Catholic Church to hand over files and answer questions under oath.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Lewis Kamb<\/a>, May 9, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEATTLE \u2014 Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Thursday<\/a> he\u2019s seeking a court order to force the Seattle Archdiocese to turn over files on priests accused of sexual abuse and make its archbishop answer questions under oath as part of a sweeping probe into how the state\u2019s three Catholic dioceses handled claims of child sex abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferguson\u2019s office is looking into \u201callegations that the Catholic Church has facilitated and attempted to cover up decades of pervasive sexual abuse of children by Church leaders in Washington State,\u201d his office\u2019s petition<\/a> for a court order states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the Seattle Archdiocese “refuses to cooperate\u201d with civil subpoenas issued by his office last summer<\/a> and last month<\/a>, Ferguson went public with his probe Thursday by filing a legal petition <\/a>in King County Superior Court that seeks an order \u201cto enforce the subpoena,\u201d his office said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If obtained, such a court order would legally compel Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne to appear for a deposition and force Washington\u2019s largest Catholic diocese to produce a long list of internal records, including its trove of secret archives on clergy sexual abuse allegations dating back decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWashingtonians deserve a public accounting of how the Catholic Church handles allegations of child sex abuse, and whether charitable dollars were used to cover it up,\u201d Ferguson said at a press conference. \u201cAs a Catholic, I am disappointed the Church refuses to cooperate with our investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The archdiocese issued a statement <\/a>Thursday disputing some of Ferguson’s statements as inaccurate and saying it was blindsided by his petition because its lawyers had been cooperating with his office on “a shared legal analysis” for the investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Today’s press conference was a surprise to us since we welcome this investigation and have been working closely with the Attorney General’s team for months now,” the statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferguson\u2019s office said it\u2019s also prepared to seek court orders against the two other Catholic dioceses in Washington, in Yakima and Spokane, if either or both don\u2019t comply with their latest subpoenas later this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Thursday\u2019s action, Ferguson became the 23rd attorney general to publicly announce an investigation into the Catholic Church in his or her state, his office said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long called for by sexual abuse survivors and advocacy groups, Washington\u2019s investigation is the first outside probe of the Seattle Archdiocese\u2019s handling of clergy abuse, advocates for survivors say. The archdiocese has publicly identified<\/a> 83 clergy members \u201cas credibly accused\u201d sex offenders, based on its own private evaluations. But for years, it has resisted advocates\u2019 calls and media requests to release its secret files about clergy abuse or allow independent investigators to inspect them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferguson noted other attorneys general investigations have revealed \u201cdramatically greater numbers\u201d of credible sexual abuse cases than what local dioceses have made public. An investigation in Illinois last year revealed more than four times as many substantiated child sex abuse cases than what Catholic dioceses in the state had divulged, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferguson\u2019s announcement also marked the first time he has acknowledged the existence of his investigation, which has been active since at least July<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February, his office declined to confirm or deny the probe after a group of anti-clergy abuse activists held a press conference to contend that he was hiding the investigation from the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcement from Ferguson, a Democrat who is running for governor, came two days after NBC News pressed his office<\/a> to disclose copies of the subpoenas that a reporter requested under Washington\u2019s Public Records Act in March. Without confirming whether they existed, the attorney general\u2019s office delayed its disclosure<\/a> for more than two months by contending it was still searching for records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferguson\u2019s subpoenas, made public for the first time this week and shared with NBC News late Wednesday, clarify the legal underpinning for the probe. The first subpoena cites his office\u2019s authority to \u201cinvestigate transactions and relationships of trustees and other persons\u201d under Washington\u2019s Charitable Trust Act, which regulates certain tax-exempt corporations and entities that hold charitable assets in trust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A civil subpoena has never been used in Washington to investigate a religious organization, according to a legal analysis provided to Ferguson\u2019s office and obtained by NBC News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferguson\u2019s approach is similar to one that New York Attorney General Leticia James used in 2020 to sue the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, based on state civil laws regulating charities. James\u2019 suit led to a landmark settlement <\/a>in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferguson\u2019s first set of subpoenas to Washington\u2019s Catholic dioceses each include a cover letter dated July 26, signed by him and sent separately to Etienne, Yakima Bishop Joseph Tyson<\/a> and the Rev.Victor Blazovich<\/a>, the vicar of finance for Spokane\u2019s bishop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferguson\u2019s letter contends that while Washington\u2019s Charitable Trust Act exempts religious organizations, \u201cthe exclusion does not apply in the context of child sexual abuse, a heinous violation with no connection to religion or an entity\u2019s religious status.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The accompanying subpoenas list demands and instructions for each diocese to produce more than 20 categories of records, including all reports about sexual abuse allegations made against priests and other clergy members, employees and volunteers since Jan. 1, 1940.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The records demanded include those containing allegations against priests and others whom the dioceses already have publicly identified as \u201ccredibly accused\u201d sexual abusers, as well as those they have not. The subpoenas also demand the dioceses to turn over communications with the Vatican about sexual abuse claims, and records showing church policies for compensating victims who alleged sexual abuse and accounting for any such payments that have been made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All three dioceses had initially been given until Aug. 25 to comply with the first subpoenas, the records show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe dioceses only responded with information that was already public. They did not fully respond to the subpoena,\u201d Ferguson\u2019s office said in its statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferguson\u2019s office also released copies of a second set of \u201camended subpoenas\u201d that were issued last month to the three dioceses. Each includes demands for production of all previously identified records, plus five additional categories of records mostly about finances and accounting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Seattle Archdiocese had been given until May 10 to comply with Ferguson\u2019s latest subpoena but notified the office this week that it objects to the subpoena and would not be complying, according to the attorney general\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deadline for the Yakima<\/a> and Spokane<\/a> dioceses to comply with their latest subpoenas is May 22, the records show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spokane’s diocese said in a statement<\/a> Thursday that it has nothing more to publicly divulge since a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in 2004 \u201cclearly revealed how the Diocese of Spokane dealt with all historic cases of sexual abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A statement<\/a> from Yakima’s diocese separately challenged Ferguson’s subpoenas as invalid and unconstitutional, adding “there are already many public resources available for the information being sought.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe cannot publicize everything in our records, however, to respect the privacy and confidentiality rights of, among others, both victims and falsely accused clergy,” the Yakima Diocese’s statement added. “And so, we will vigorously assert our First Amendment rights.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a petition Thursday to compel the Catholic Church to hand over files and answer questions under oath.\u00a0 By\u00a0Lewis Kamb, May 9, 2024 SEATTLE \u2014 Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Thursday he\u2019s seeking a court order to force the Seattle Archdiocese to turn over files on priests accused of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15364"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15364"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15366,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15364\/revisions\/15366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}