CONTRIBUTORS

Why we didn't publish the names of 300 clerics and lay people accused of sexual assault

Ed Forbes
NorthJersey

Another large group of priests and others who served the Roman Catholic Church were accused of sexual misconduct at a Monday press conference in Elizabeth. 

Jeff Anderson & Associates, a New York law firm, released the names of more than 300 diocesan priests, religious order priests, deacons, nuns, and religious brothers and sisters. All, the firm said, are accused of sexual misconduct and associated with the Catholic dioceses in New Jersey.

The clerics were named at an Elizabeth press conference at which Anderson also announced that Edward Hanratty, a native of Ridgefield Park, has filed suit against all of New Jersey's Roman Catholic bishops and the New Jersey Catholic Conference for “maintaining a public hazard by keeping secret the names of all clergy accused of sexual misconduct in New Jersey.” 

Why we didn't publish the names

We have decided not to publish those named in the Anderson firm's report. Why?

  • While the firm shared names and assignment histories, no details about credible accusations are included.
  • Anderson has asked you to believe that these 300 clerics are bad actors at face value. We believe details about accusations are required for New Jersey's Catholics to make that judgment. 
  • Anderson said its report drew on information "from publicly available sources, claims made by survivors to the dioceses and religious orders responsible for the offenders, and legal settlements made as a result of claims for sexual abuse." We question why the firm didn't do more to attribute its information to those publicly available sources. 

  • Further, despite taking pains to stress that "all individuals [named in the report] should be considered innocent until proven guilty," Anderson still presents the names, though many of the cases that support its report have not been settled or, as the firm wrote, "fully evaluated in a civil or criminal court."

Read: The full Anderson report

300 names released:What to know about the new list of priests, others accused of abuse in NJ

Some of the priests, monks, nuns and lay people named Monday are familiar to New Jersey readers who have followed the unraveling of the priest abuse scandal over the last three decades. Hanratty said his suit is based in his belief that lists released earlier this year by New Jersey's Roman Catholic dioceses were incomplete. 

In February, the dioceses named 188 priests and deacons after an internal review that was spurred by a law enforcement probe announced in 2018. Most of those named had died, but 79 remained alive.

In contrast to the Anderson report, the earlier diocesan release included key pieces of information about each accused cleric. Numbers of victims were shared. Ordination and status — whether accused priests were laicized or removed from the ministry — as well as assignment history were shared. 

We will continue to report on this important story and how it affects you — our Garden State readers. We will not, however, traffic in accusations that lack any obvious standard for being made public. 

Ed Forbes is senior director for news and engagement for the USA TODAY NETWORK Northeast and is based at NorthJersey.com and The Record. 

Ed Forbes