Philadelphia Archdiocese settles $3.5 million abuse suit

Philadelphia Archdiocese settles $3.5 million abuse suit

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has agreed to pay a $3.5 million settlement in a civil case alleging a now-deceased priest raped a teen enrolled at a parish religious education program. The survivor’s attorney, however, has called on the archdiocese to improve the review board’s ability to hear from victims directly in evaluating abuse claims.

In a statement emailed to OSV News Aug. 10, archdiocesan chief communications officer Kenneth Gavin said the archdiocese “acknowledges settlement in this matter and the resolution it brings.”

The 2020 lawsuit claimed Father (later Msgr.) John Close had sexually assaulted the unnamed plaintiff, then 14 years old, after a catechetical lesson at St. Katharine of Siena Parish in Wayne, Pennsylvania, where Father Close was pastor.

According to the court filing, the teen had been sent to the pastor’s office after becoming upset during the lesson. Father Close is alleged to have heard his confession and then raped him, telling the youth he was absolved of his sins but faced eternal damnation if he alerted anyone to the assault.

The alleged attack took place in 2006, the same year Father Close was appointed pastor of St. Katharine of Siena, and four years after the U.S. bishops adopted the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” (also known as the Dallas Charter), which lays out norms for handling allegations of abuse against minors.

Gavin said that prior to Msgr. Close’s death in March 2018 “the Archdiocese had no knowledge of this allegation,” which was “brought forward by the plaintiff’s attorneys in July 2019.”

“In accordance with policy, the Archdiocese reported the allegation to law enforcement,” said Gavin, noting that Msgr. Close would not be added to the archdiocesan webpage for credibly accused clergy “as no allegation against him was ever substantiated.”

In 2018, the now 31-year-old plaintiff had disclosed the assault to family and counselors, according to an Aug. 9 press release from law firm Kline & Specter, which represented the plaintiff.

Attorney David Inscho told OSV News his client is “still in treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder,” having previously battled substance abuse and additional aftereffects from the assault.

Inscho said in his law firm’s press release the suit showed “the archdiocese protected Father Close despite multiple reports of inappropriate behavior with children,” with the earliest allegations dating to the initial years of the priest’s ministry.

The court documents indicated that in 1976, Msgr. Close was reported to have had teen boys visit his rectory room and even stay overnight at a Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, parish. In the late 1990s, another alleged victim accused Msgr. Close several times of having abused him as an altar boy at a Philadelphia parish in 1969, the year in which the priest was ordained. The court documents said the archdiocesan review board considered but could not affirm that allegation.

The suit also held that another complaint against Msgr. Close dating to the 1990s emerged in 2011, with the claimant reporting the priest had sexually assaulted him while he was a student at Archbishop Wood High School in Warminster, Pennsylvania, where Msgr. Close was principal at the time.

Also in 2011, a Pennsylvania grand jury report found at least 37 Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests who were “subject to substantial evidence of abuse” had remained in assignments with exposure to children. A 2003 grand jury report had found more than 120 archdiocesan priests had abused kids and teens over a 35-year period.

In announcing a settlement with Inscho’s client, “the Archdiocese reaffirms its longstanding commitment to preventing child abuse, protecting the young people entrusted to its care, and providing holistic means of compassionate support for those who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of our clergy,” said Gavin.

He added that the archdiocese provides victim assistance through outpatient counseling, paying for therapeutic services by a licensed therapist of the individual’s choice and related expenses for medication, transportation, and childcare.

“This support is provided regardless of when the abuse occurred,” he said. “We deeply regret the pain suffered by any survivor of child sexual abuse and have a sincere desire to help victims on their path to healing.”

He said the archdiocese “holds a zero tolerance policy for abuse of minors,” with “every allegation of such abuse, or any other allegation of crime … reported to law enforcement.”

“No canonical or internal investigation is done unless and until any criminal investigation or prosecution is concluded,” said Gavin. “Any cleric who is found to have sexually abused a minor is permanently removed from ministry. In addition, his name, photograph, and assignment history are posted on the Archdiocesan website.”

Gavin also noted that the archdiocese concluded its Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program last summer. Launched in 2018, the program issued a final report in June 2022 indicating the archdiocese had offered $81 million for 475 claims, with $78 million having been paid out to 438 claimants.

Inscho told OSV News his client had declined to participate in the program, although he had applied.

The program “offered $400,000, which was not nearly adequate compensation for his claim,” Inscho said.

He added that “there is still work to be done in the way dioceses treat survivors.”

“They should have a voice at the review board stage,” said Inscho. “The way we resolve (these claims) is to hear from the people (themselves) and evaluate their credibility.”

That assessment was echoed by Sara Larson, executive director of the independent nonprofit Awake Milwaukee, which works to raise awareness of and heal sexual abuse in both the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and the Catholic Church as a whole.

Noting that “significant progress” has been made in the U.S. since the adoption of the Dallas Charter, “there is still much work to be done to better prevent, recognize, and respond to abuse in all its forms,” Larson told OSV News in an Aug. 10 email.

Key to “a transformation in church culture at all levels” is “listening to and learning from the voices of those who have experienced abuse,” said Larson. “When we open our minds and hearts to the wisdom of survivors, we will fully understand the urgency and necessity of facing this ongoing wound in the Body of Christ.”