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PUBLIC DISCLOSURE
CAUSE NO. 141-198356-03
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS
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My
name is A. W. Richard Sipe (Aquinas Walter Richard). I am over
the age of twenty-one (21). I have never been convicted of a felony. I
am competent to testify to the truth of matters stated herein. I have
personal knowledge of the matters stated her and know such matters to be
true and correct.
Background & Experience:
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Currently I am involved in full-time research and consultation about
celibacy and the sexual practices of Roman Catholic clergy. I conducted
a 25 year ethnographic study (1960-1985) of the celibate/sexual
practices of Roman Catholic priests in the United States. I have
authored five books on the subject. I have served as a consultant or
expert witness in over 250 cases of sexual abuse of minors by Roman
Catholic clergy in the United States and Canada, usually on behalf of
plaintiffs. I have been an expert trial witness in the States of
Arkansas, Minnesota, and California. I served as an expert witness at
the sentencing hearing of a priest in the Federal Court in Des Moines,
Iowa. I have been a consultant to the District Attorneys’ offices,
department of criminal investigation of child abuse for Orange County,
California and Los Angeles. Deputy District Attorneys for Ventura County
and San Francisco also participated. I also was hired by the Deputy
Attorney General for the State of California to be an expert witness in
criminal trials of priests who had allegedly abused minors. I was a
consultant to the office of Attorney General of the State of
Massachusetts in their preparation for grand jury hearings regarding
sexual abuse. I was a witness before the Philadelphia Grand Jury
investigating sexual abuse by priests in that jurisdiction. These are
among my activities primarily over the past five years.
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I
was trained as a psychotherapist/counselor specifically to deal with the
mental health problems of Catholic clergy and religious. I served on the
staff of a psychiatric training hospital operated by Catholic nuns. This
hospital was well known as a treatment center for priests and religious.
I was trained at this hospital and served on its staff as a counselor. I
have been active in my field for over 40 years. I was a Psychiatrist
Assistant certified in the State of Maryland from 1982 to March 1, 1999,
when I retired. My certification extended until 2002.
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I
held an appointment as Instructor in Psychiatry (part-time), Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, division of
children and adolescents, Baltimore, Maryland, for 25 years until I
submitted my resignation in 1997.
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I
have taught at three major Roman Catholic seminaries and a Catholic
college from 1967 to 1996. I held the position of Assistant Professor of
Pastoral Counseling, St. John’s University and Seminary, Collegeville,
Minnesota (1967-1970). I have continued to lecture periodically at this
seminary, the most recent series being in January 1996. I was Lecturer
in Pastoral Counseling at the Jesuit seminary, Woodstock College,
Woodstock, Maryland (1968-1970). I have been Adjunct Associate Professor
of Psychology, Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland (1971-1975) and
Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Counseling, St. Mary’s Seminary and
University, Baltimore, Maryland (1972-1984). The latter institution is a
Pontifical Seminary. Most recently, in May 2005, I gave a day of
recollection on celibacy to priests in the Diocese of Rochester, New
York.
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I
attended Roman Catholic parish grade school, Catholic high school,
college, and seminaries in Rome, Italy and in Minnesota. I entered a
Benedictine Monastery in 1952 and was ordained a priest in 1959. I
taught for five years in a Catholic high school until 1964 when I began
full time training for counseling. I remained a monk and priest until
1970, when I requested and received permission from the Vatican to be
dispensed from my vows as a monk and a priest. I was married in a Roman
Catholic ceremony in 1970 and remain a church member in good standing.
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During my career as a therapist I have consulted with or treated over
3,000 clients, half of whom had been sexually abused as minors
(one-third of those were abused by a Catholic priest or religious.) I
have been involved with 500 priests in a counseling or consultation
relationship. Of these, 69 had been sexually involved with a minor at
least once. In addition I have reviewed over 1,700 case histories of
Catholic priests including those who have abused minors, and over 2,000
complaints or histories of adults who have alleged sexual abuse by a
Catholic priest or religious when they were minors. A true and correct
copy of my Curriculum Vitae is attached to this document. (Attachment 1)
OBJECTIVE:
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In
preparation for this declaration I have read and reviewed the following
documents: The Protective Order Regarding Confidential Information
(October 4, 2004) signed by the Presiding Judge in the District Court of
Tarrant County, Texas in the Case of John Doe I & John Doe II v. Roman
Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth et. al.; Interveners'’ Post-Hearing Brief
submitted by The Dallas Morning News and The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
(June 24, 2005); and the Affidavit of Mary A. Connell (September 9,
2005). This is a preliminary report, and I reserve the right to revise
it, as new documents are made available to me.
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I
have been asked to render opinions on a) the effects—positive and
negative—or the foreseeable value to victims of sexual abuse by Roman
Catholic Clergy that the public disclosure of documents relating to the
knowledge of bishops of the pervasiveness of sexual abuse of minors by
Catholic priests in the United States from 1950 onward; b) the effects
of public disclosure of such documents for the general welfare of
society and the prevention of further abuse of minors even beyond the
Catholic clergy and their employees.
OPINIONS:
Effects of Public Disclosure on Victims of Abuse:
 | Sexual abuse of minors (and others) by Catholic
clergy has been a persistent problem for centuries. The facts have been
memorialized in church documents with unremitting frequency. (Cf.
Attachment 2, Chronology: Sex, Priests & Secret Codes. 2006)
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| The harm to victims of sexual abuse by any
trusted adult, and particularly by a representative of an institution that
holds itself to speak for divine and eternal values are long-lasting and
severe. (Cf. Attachment 3, Unspeakable Damage) |
| My long-term and consistent experience with
victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and bishops is that the
revelation, and recognition that the authorities of the church did indeed
know about the problem of abuse, their own abuser, and others carries with
it a positive and healing result. |
| In 1988 I reviewed files of 1,800 complaints of
clergy abuse. Not one of these files threatened or wanted to sue the
church. Over and over again the letters were asking for recognition that
they were telling the truth, were not alone, that there was a possibility
of a hearing and vindication from Church authority. |
| Victims have reported re-victimization in having
to fight for these goals in the processes—legal and otherwise—established
by some dioceses. In many of the depositions I have had to review in my
work some church lawyers do appear to be ruthless in trying to “break
down” the plaintiff. |
| In spite of difficulties, many victims consider
themselves survivors once they have entered the process of vindication.
The public disclosure of documents that reveal perpetrators, and the
diocesan knowledge of abuse add to the healing reality that the victim was
not alone and not to blame for his or her assault. |
| Disclosure of documents has proven to give many
victims the courage and support they need to come forward and begin the
process of healing. This fact has been amply verified in diocesan
experience, in the press, and in public awareness. |
| I can say from my experience, research, and
training, with reasonable psychological certainty, that most of victims of
clergy sexual abuse derive positive results from the public disclosure of
church documents that expose the extent of knowledge and the history of
its disposition in any given diocese. |
Effects
of Public Disclosure of Church Documents for the General Public Welfare:
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The
problem of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy over the past 50 years is a
matter of record (Cf. below). The salient factor in brining attention
and remedial action to the problem was because the Boston Globe
petitioned and was granted the unsealing of church documents from the
Court in Massachusetts. This action by the court has had such profound
effects on the awareness of problem of the sexual abuse of minors in the
United States (and around the world) that many people date the crisis to
January 6, 2002 when the Boston Globe published the first of 1,200
articles on the subject. |
As a direct result:
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In
June 2002 the Catholic Bishops of America met in Dallas and authored a
zero-tolerance policy for abuse of minors by Catholic clergy. |
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The
US Bishops inaugurated a National Board to investigate the crisis. They
also commissioned the John Jay College of Criminal Justice to conduct a
survey to determine the scope of the crisis of sexual abuse of minors by
Catholic clergy. It estimated that between 3 and 6 percent of all
Catholic priests in the United States in the last 50 years have sexually
molested children. The report states that 4,394 (or 4 percent of the
total) Catholic priests have been credibly accused of abusing minors
between 1950 and 2002. They concluded that the rate of abuse they
project is probably low because of self-reporting and the unwillingness
of 3 dioceses to participate in the study plus other limits of survey
techniques. The report found that 10 percent of priests during the 1970s
and 8 percent during the 1980s were abusing minors according to credible
reports in the data they collected. (Cf. The Report of the John Jay
School of Criminal Justice, February 27, 2004) The number of alleged
abusing priests who are known has increased to over 5,000 since the
report was finished (1,000 additional reports were filed between 2004
and 2005, 750 listed names of priests not mentioned previously). As more
accurate numbers are recorded it is clear that the projected norm is
greatly exceeded. For instance, the Diocese of Tucson Arizona had over
20 percent of its active priests in 1986 accused of abusing minors. The
Boston Archdiocese admits that over 7.6 percent of its priests over a
50-year period abused minors; New Hampshire recognizes that 8.2 percent
of its priests abused. Priests credibly accused of abusing children in
the Los Angeles Archdiocese numbers 244. In 1983, 11.4 percent of the
active priests in that jurisdiction are now credibly recognized as
abusers of minors. Seventy-five (75) percent of the parishes in the Los
Angeles Archdiocese have had at least one sexual abusing priest on their
staff (several have employed 5 to 8). |
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In
my opinion the real number of Catholic priests who have sexually abused
a minor at least once during the past 50 years will prove to be 9
percent when all studies are completed. |
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Between 2002 and 2004, 700 priests who had been credibly accused of
abuse and still active in the priesthood were relieved of their duties
in ministry. |
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The
Catholic Bishops established an Office of Child Protection to promote
prevention of sexual abuse by clergy and others working for the church. |
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Twelve grand juries were convened across the country to investigate
Catholic clergy abuse. The reports from these investigations have
resulted in a deeper understanding of the structure and mechanisms that
foster and perpetuate abuse of minors, and form an impetus to greater
action to protect minors from abuse. Three reports produced cause for
indictments (New Hampshire, Phoenix, Detroit) but pleas were worked out
with district attorneys in each case. The reports from Massachusetts and
Philadelphia said that there was evidence of criminal activity, but
state laws in each case impeded bringing criminal charges. |
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The
effects of the release of documents by the Massachusetts court have had
positive effects for the prevention of child abuse and the protection of
minors far beyond the Catholic clergy and the United States. The
awareness and attention to the problems of minor abuse and the need for
prevention have extended around the world. This is demonstrated by the
increased concern about child pornography and child prostitution in
several countries as well as the United States (Thailand, the
Philippines, Rumania, etc.). |
The
problems of sexual abuse of minors in society and by Catholic clergy have
not been solved in spite of advances in prevention and expanded education.
Documentation of abuse held by Catholic Dioceses in secret has already
been, and is still crucial to combat this social evil. Many Catholics
still hope that bishops will step forward with complete transparency and
accountability to help not only the members of their own flocks, but of
American society.
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