For the first time Bishop Emeritus Matthew Clark admitted that priests accused of sex abuse continued to serve in ministry.
The testimony came as part of a bankruptcy proceeding for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester.
“In times past, there was no accountability,” according to Jeff Anderson, an attorney for sex abuse survivors. “There was not an opportunity to take this kind of deposition and ask a broad range of questions.”
The deposition took three hours.
“The big takeaway is that he candidly admits that he and top officials have chosen to conceal the abuse of so many offenders to send them to treatment and to put them back in parishes and to transfer from parish to parish and not tell the public, not tell the police,” Anderson told 13WHAM.
The Diocese meanwhile, contends that Clark is ‘hindered’ by disease.
“As a result of these limitations, the deposition is in many instances imprecise and inaccurate and thus calls into question whether it is a credible addition to the bankruptcy case record,” the statement said.
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