Charlotte Diocese Hesitates to Release List of “Credible Allegations”

Since the summer of 2017, the international Catholic community has been wracked by almost constant clergy sexual abuse reports, even finding trusted archbishops and cardinals guilty.

North Carolina dioceses are not exempt from this reckoning, and in December of 2018 the Raleigh diocese released a list of all priests who were reported to be sexually abusive at any point in their priesthood and served in the Raleigh diocese. The Charlotte diocese, however, will hold off until possibly June or later to release their report so that the bishop can “receive additional instruction.” David Hains, the bishop’s spokesperson, insists that the reports produced by the Catholic News Herald are accurate and substantial for now.

Bishop Jugis addressing sex abuse scandal at the 2018 Eucharistic Congress. Photo John Cosmas, Catholic Herald.

Laypeople of Charlotte trust the honesty of the Diocese, the bishops, and their parish priests, but there is no method of guaranteeing that the Diocese has not or will not redact non-prosecuted cases from their published lists so far. Many in the Diocese also agree that having a full list of all priests reported for sexual abuse in the Diocese will “help to understand the [scope] of this issue in our community.”

Transcripts of amended complaint detailing behaviour of the Diocese of Charlotte in a 2009 abuse case.
Deposition statement from Monsignor West describing the destruction of reports on the treatment of Damion Lynch, a former Charlotte priest.

According to transcripts of cases against priests in the Charlotte Diocese and lawyers with experience in cases against the Diocese, multiple past executive members of the Charlotte Diocese “destroyed medical reports and records that they received from treatment centers for Diocese priests who’d been accused of sexual misconduct” and “retained an abusive priest even after being warned repeatedly…that the priest was an abuser.” There was also a case in 2000 where Father Kessler and Monsignor West informed an abusive priest that “they won’t allow [accusers] to run at the mouth and put [the priest in question] down” instead of reporting to the Department of Social Services.

This directly contravenes their public policy and Haines’ claims of “reporting every accusation [of child sexual abuse] to the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys and the North Carolina Department of Social Services.”

Longtime member of the diocese Billy Maddalon concurred, adding “In the case of Monsignor [West’s recent harassment allegations] like a lot of others, it was an open secret for a while. ” While the bishop states that he adhered to “the strict policy of the Diocese of Charlotte to immediately refer all allegations by known accusers of potential sexual misconduct to the Lay Review Board for investigation,” there is no way of knowing if accusations have been made against Monsignor West before this point.

This news especially troubles parents of children attending schools in the Diocese of Charlotte, with one saying, “I trust these priests. I trust that all of them are going to keep my kids safe. I trust them because I have to trust I’m keeping my kids safe, so what other choice do I have?” Seth Langson, a lawyer intimately involved in cases of abuse victims in the Charlotte diocese, clarified that “under current law, [the diocese] doesn’t have to report accusations directly to the police. They only have to report allegations to the District Attorneys and the DSS [Department of Social Services]. This is very different than reporting to the police, where it would [be in public record].”

I trust [parish and school priests] because I have to trust I’m keeping my kids safe, so what other choice do I have?
MACS Parent

In some cases, it was teachers and school administrators who discovered abuse: one notable account describes a youth group leader mistakenly receiving communication between a priest and one of his later accusers. When she reported the inappropriate behaviour to her supervisor, she was assured that “it would be taken care of” and that the supervisor would inform the head parish priest- but the offending priest was never removed from his positions working with children and was allowed to transfer out of the state later that same year.

Damion Lynch, settled 1999 for undisclosed amount due to 1991-95 abuse charges. Left priesthood in 2002.
Father Joseph Kelleher, arrested and released on bail in 2010 due to abuse charges. 1977 abuse confirmed and other credible accusations are known. Died 2014 with all charges dismissed.
Father Jeffries Burton, reassigned in 1994 after 1982 abuse allegations discovered. Died 2011 with no criminal or civil suits filed.
Father Richard Farwell, convicted 2004 to “taking indecent liberties” with a minor in the 1980s with another credible accusation never brought to court. Status as clergy unknown, one of two Charlotte priests to face criminal consequences for sexual abuse.
Robert Yurgel, convicted 2009 with sexual abuse of a minor in 1999. Only Charlotte priest to serve jail time for sexual abuse. Defrocked 2010.

The men above are the priests that- according to reputable source BishopAccountability.org- have served in the Charlotte diocese, have been either accused of or confessed to sexual abuse of minors, and are still alive or died after 2010. This organization, though, can only cull their evidence from publicly released documents like court reports and news articles. This leaves any allegations left in private diocesan files, like Father Cornell Bradley in the late 1980s and Father Al Gondek in 1993, blind to the public trying to understand the scale of this issue. Again, there is no way of guaranteeing that any informal report released through a Diocesan-controlled source like Catholic News Herald has not redacted accusations in order to make the Diocese look more reliable.

Haines, though, says that “we’ve been…helping the Church deal with this sex abuse scandal for more than fifteen years with…background checks and Protecting God’s Children [a Diocesan educational program focused on spotting signs of child abuse] for every employee and volunteer in the Diocese.” The employees required to attend Protecting God’s Children now includes all seminarians at St. Joseph’s Seminary, confirmed Haines, along with 50,000 clergy and laypeople since 2003.

These efforts, though, do not negate the need for a detailed list of all sex abuse reports, public or private, made against priests who have ever served in the Charlotte Diocese published publicly to the Diocese website. Optimally, this list would be created with independent assistance and with dates of when incidents of abuse occurred and when they were reported to the Diocese. In the future, the Diocese could even track the effectiveness of abuse prevention programs by tracking the implementation of these programs with rates of abuse allegations.

On the topic of the Diocese of Charlotte releasing a full list of credible accusations, a Charlotte Catholic parent commented, “I don’t see any problem with it, and it would really help reassure people that [the Diocese] is really looking out for us. I mean, if you’re not guilty, nothing to fear, right?”

If you or a loved one is suffering sexual abuse, please contact one of these toll-free numbers:

National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673
National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453
The Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386
Darkness to Light at 1-866-367-5444
Stop It Now at 1-888-773-2362
The ChildHelp National Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453
Report to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department at 311
Report to the York County Sheriff’s Office at 803-329-1110
Report to the Chester County Sheriff’s Office at 803-385-5433
Report to the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office at 803-283-4136
If residing in any other county under jurisdiction of the Diocese of Charlotte, please contact your county’s non-emergency number or a nearby lawyer.

The Lowdown on the Hoedown

Rumours are flying over the prospect of a Charlotte Catholic Sadie Hawkins dance, from what the theme might be to when it is, but what the idea behind the event is or whether the student body actually wants it may still be a toss-up.

Here are the facts about the Charlotte Catholic 2019 Sadie Hawkins dance so far:

The dance will be on Saturday, March 16th from 8pm to 10pm.
The theme will be St. Patrick’s Day (In March, could it be anything else?) and decorations will be made by the theatre decoration committee.
The Junior Student Officers are in charge of organizing the dance, with Junior Student President Gilbert “Gibby” Shea as organizing chair.
Refreshments will be provided.
Split Second Sound DJ will return to provide music for the event.
The link to purchase tickets is here -> https://www.ticketracker.com/store?schoolId=1603

But!- In order to understand the spirit of hosting a Sadie Hawkins dance, it is important to understand its history. The idea of a Sadie Hawkins Day began in 1937 with the comic “Li’l Abner,” in which Sadie Hawkins- the ugliest girl in all of Dogpatch and daughter of Hekzebiah Hawkins- complains that she is a spinster at 35. In order to remedy this, her father held a race with all the bachelors of Dogpatch with the loser being forced to marry Sadie. It worked, and the comic became so popular that the cartoonist Al Capp released a “Sadie Hawkins” issue every year.

The first of Capp’s “Sadie Hawkins Day” comics, 1937

In 1939, Texas Wesleyan University along with 200 other American colleges held the first Sadie Hawkins dances inspired by “Li’l Abner,” where women would take the initiative of asking men to be their date instead of the reverse. LIFE Magazine ran a double-page article on the blooming tradition that, by the early 1950s, had spread to 40,000 American universities and high schools. The radical idea of girls taking agency– even with who they would want to attend a dance with– excited young people in eras where gender roles were strictly enforced, so students flocked to these events in droves.

The tradition has been less popular at Charlotte Catholic, though, as they haven’t held a Sadie Hawkins dance since the winter of 2015 due to the dance’s unpopularity with students. Senior Benjamin Frondorf says “it was kind of popular when it happened” but that Student Council and the Parent-Teacher Organization still noticed that interest had waned over the past three years.

Part of this disinterest may be, as sophomore Clara Lobsiger says, because “[the students] are all tired during the second semester…[so] it’s harder to make a big deal about a dance,” but Shea insists “Sadie’s is going to be more casual than Homecoming” and that “it is going to be a fun event where people…do not necessarily have to ask someone.”

There is still a large demographic of students who have pushed for the comeback of Sadie’s, mainly freshmen who feel one dance for underclassmen isn’t fair compared to the two dances juniors and seniors can attend. This is exactly the group Shea is catering to, as “this is [why] Sadie Hawkins dances are popular at other schools.”

The Junior Student Officers are excited to give more opportunities for students to “relax and have fun,” and hope students enjoy this event. Whether one is on the fence about attending or has already planned the perfect outfit, the Sadie Hawkins dance may be the perfect event to relax and have a fun night before Spring Break.

Art Stripped Bare from Catholic

A beloved tradition at Charlotte Catholic is the senior Honours Art murals, with some dedicated students preparing their design for years- but this tradition may soon disappear. According to the Charlotte Catholic Art Department, no senior Honours Art class will paint murals on the first-floor walls from now on and all murals from preceding classes will be painted over with white.

When the senior art students first heard the news, reactions ranged from “distraught and confused” to “furious,” said senior Vanessa Ruedas. The senior class had admired these paintings for years, excelling in Art class in hopes that they could express themselves permanently on the walls. “Why remove the chance to leave our mark?”

“Say you were in line for a promotion at a job, and you spent years getting all the qualifications. And you finally have it all and you go in one day, expecting to get the promotion, only to find out that the job position is being terminated because it was deemed useless to the company… that’s what it feels like [to us].”
-Senior Vanessa Ruedas

Non Visual-Arts students also don’t appreciate this change, as the murals brightened the school and served as useful landmarks for underclassmen. Sophomore Gloria Kanzienza says “without the murals, this school would look like a prison,” and sophomore Bea Saenz adds, “I just really hate the fact that they’re really about to take away the only aspect of the entire school that’s… appealing to look at.” Some teachers agree, commenting that the disappearance would be “sad.”

The administration and Art Department insist, though, that this was a mutual decision on their part and have prepared an alternate project where a variety of mediums- such as photography, collage, or sculpture- would be displayed on canvas in the student commons area. Art pieces will only be displayed there for a year, but the space will be “more professional” because it will be hosting a Senior Gallery Night in early April. Potentially, the two senior Art classes will also paint two collaborative murals; one will be in either Mrs. Kathleen Ramirez’s or Mrs. Carmen Garmilla’s classroom and the other will be in one of the main stairways.

As the reality of graduation hits seniors, they may fight to hold onto the impact they’ve left on Charlotte Catholic- but the year isn’t over yet, and our enterprising seniors will find a way to leave their mark, whether through people or paint.