ST. FRANCIS — Wednesday morning, the Wisconsin Supreme Court stated that the statute of limitations had expired for negligence charges due to the sexual abuse by two priests in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. However, the court also ruled that the charge of fraud should be examined by a trial judge.
In a the document posted on the Wisconsin courts Web site, the judges wrote, “We conclude that the claims asserted against the Archdiocese for negligent supervision are barred by the statute of limitations because according to controlling precedent such claims are derivative and accrued as a matter of law by the time of the last incident of sexual assault.”
However, in regards to the fraud claim, the Supreme Court’s ruling states, “… we deny the motion to dismiss the fraud claims because we conclude that, based solely on the complaints, we cannot determine when the plaintiffs knew or should have known of the Archdiocese's alleged knowledge of the priests' past histories of sexual molestation of children. Therefore, their claims may or may not be time-barred by Wis. Stat. 893.93(1)(b), depending on when the claims for fraud accrued.”
John Rothstein, the archdiocese’s legal counsel for this case, told your Catholic Herald Wednesday morning that since the negligent supervision claim is in fact barred by the statute of limitations, that claim is gone.
“That leaves the claim asserting fraud, so that is sent to the court below for further processing because the Supreme Court couldn’t make a determination at this stage whether or not it was barred.
“As the Supreme Court said, (the fraud charge) may be untimely or it might not be, so that’s what the trial judge is going to have to decide. And that’s why the matter is being sent back to the trial judge.
These two allegations of negligent supervision and fraud were presented to trial court in 2005, according to Rothstein.
“Given the age of the allegations, the trial judge said that all these allegations were time-barred,” he said.
“The next step for the archdiocese is, we’ll go through the normal process, the files and papers will find their way to the trial judge and then we’ll ask the trial judge to hold a hearing or meeting with all the parties to map out how we go from here,” he explained. “At that first meeting, I think we’ll try to identify for the judge and set the scheduling so we can bring the threshold question of that statute of limitations back to the judge for the processing the Supreme Court has directed. After that, the question on the statute of limitations is resolved, if the trial judge decides that the lawsuit is untimely, that completes the lawsuit. If he concludes it was timely, then he’ll have to schedule a trial…”
Rothstein said the ruling gave the archdiocese good news, though not all good news.
“Clearly the fact that the court reaffirmed the long-standing statute of limitations for negligent supervision claims, I think it’s appropriate and consistent with the existing law in our state,” he said. “On the fraud count, while we obviously would’ve preferred, and we believe the trial judge appropriately decided the question (in 2005), we understand the Supreme Court’s direction that the trial judge should now take additional information before deciding the statute of limitations for fraud. As a lawyer that gives me clear direction to what the Supreme Court wants and I’m very pleased to do that.”
The Archdiocese released a statement to the media, stating, “We respect the Supreme Court’s decision and will abide by it. … The Archdiocese of Milwaukee remains committed to continuing our work on the issue of clergy sexual abuse. We apologize to all those who have been affected by clergy sexual abuse, especially victims/survivors and their families. We also renew our promise to protect the children and young people in our community from sexual abuse.”
Additionally, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, in an e-mail to archdiocesan leaders, stated, “The tragedy of clergy sexual abuse of children and, perhaps even more, the failure in the past of some within the Church to deal decisively with it long ago, will always be an ugly stain on our history. We renew our apology to all victims/survivors and repeat our sincere effort to support their personal recovery. … To our faithful clergy and dedicated people, I thank you for your resilience and support. We know much has been accomplished during these past five years, but we also know there is always more we can do. My pledge and commitment to victims/survivors to work toward healing and resolution remains steadfast.”
The archbishop concluded his statement by saying, “Today's news is a reminder that our work on the issue of clergy sexual abuse will never be over, but that we must remain vigilant in ensuring all members of our community, especially children and young people, are safe and protected.”
