Two lawsuits accuse Missouri dioceses of ‘shameless cover-up’ of sexual abuse

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CNA Staff, Sep 20, 2024 / 11:43 am (CNA).

Two lawsuits filed this month are accusing the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau and the Diocese of Jefferson City, both in Missouri, of covering up and enabling decades of sexual abuse against minors dating back to the 1960s through the 1990s.

The two suits, filed in U.S. District Court and employing identical language in many cases, claim that diocesan officials “knowingly enabled, covered up, and concealed for multiple decades” sexual abuse perpetrated on minors, what the suits call a “shameless cover-up” that “spanned decades and allowed various bishops and other employees to access and sexually abuse numerous children.”

The suits were filed on behalf of numerous unnamed individuals identified only by their initials. The alleged victims were almost all minors at the time of the reported abuse; one plaintiff in the Jefferson City suit was identified as a “vulnerable adult” at the time of the alleged abuse. The incidents reportedly took place at multiple parishes and schools in the respective dioceses.

The Springfield-Cape Girardeau suit alleges abuse from several priests, including Father Leonard Chambers, who is on the diocese’s list of clergy with allegations of abuse and misconduct.

The filing contains several errors, including spelling mistakes as well as identifying the defendant as the “Diocese of St. Louis.” Rebecca Randles, a Kansas City, Missouri-area lawyer representing the plaintiffs in both lawsuits, said the legal team was “in a rush to get it out the door because we wanted to file it within five years of the attorney general report” released in 2019.

“The errors are typographical in nature and have no impact on the legitimacy of the lawsuit,” she said.

The five-year deadline, meanwhile, was “symbolically important — especially since some of the priests on the list have not been revealed in the diocese’s list of credibly accused,” she said.

Then-Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt in September 2019 released a report on his investigation into sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clerics in the state; the prosecutor at the time referred 12 former clerics for potential criminal prosecution.

The investigation ultimately found credible allegations of 163 instances of sexual abuse or misconduct by diocesan clerics against minors. The offenses ranged from boundary violations — such as inappropriate discussion or correspondence — to rape.

“The individuals named in that report have still not been prosecuted,” Randles told CNA.

In a statement after the filing of the suit, the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau said it “takes these allegations seriously.”

“These new claims will be examined and the diocese will continue to attend to those who have been harmed by abuse as outlined in the U.S. Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and our own safe environment policies and procedures,” the statement said. 

“As a precaution, all clergy, employees, and volunteers who are accused of abuse or misconduct involving minors or vulnerable adults may be placed on temporary administrative leave by the diocese,” the diocese continued. “The presumption of innocence, which is also set out in the charter, should be accorded to those who are presently accused.”

“The diocese seeks truth and justice. It holds accountable those who have abused children and the vulnerable,” the statement added.

The Jefferson City lawsuit, meanwhile — which also at one point appears to identify the diocese as “St. Louis” — makes similar claims, naming multiple priests as having allegedly abused children, including at least two on the diocese’s list of credibly accused priests.

In a Thursday statement, Jefferson City Bishop W. Shawn McKnight said the diocese was “treating this matter with the utmost seriousness and investigating the allegations.”

The bishop noted that “none of the five priests named in the lawsuit are currently active in ministry in the Diocese of Jefferson City.” 

Another, Father Francis Gillgannon, died in 2004, the bishop said. “We were not aware of any allegations made against him before this lawsuit,” he said.

One priest in the lawsuit is identified only as “Father Darr.” McKnight said in his statement that there is “no record of a ‘Father Darr’ ever serving in the Diocese of Jefferson City.”

The bishop said officials were further working to determine the identity of a priest identified only as “Father Dave” in the suit. “We have confirmed that this allegation does not refer to any priest named ‘David’ currently serving in our diocese,” he said. 

“I invite everyone to continue praying for all survivors of abuse and misconduct,” the bishop said. “We also encourage anyone who has been abused to come forward.”