11 Investigates: Clergy sex abuse victims still wait for justice

PITTSBURGH — Seven years after then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro released a shocking grand jury report on priest sex abuse in Pennsylvania, some victims tell 11 Investigates they are still fighting for justice.

While Catholic dioceses across the state settled with many victims, other victims said they have been left out.

Chief Investigator Rick Earle spoke with one of those victims, who now has renewed optimism.

That renewed hope comes after the Pennsylvania House passed legislation that would pave the way for victims to file civil lawsuits.

However, the victims Earle spoke with said they’ve been here before and heard the promises. But so far, nothing has changed.

Earle: “You feel betrayed?”

Rich Westwood: “Yeah, exactly. I feel betrayed by the government, the people up in Harrisburg.”

“It’s been seven years since the release of that landmark grand jury report on clergy sex abuse, but Rich Westwood said that, for him and many other victims, nothing has changed.

Earle: “You don’t feel like you’ve had justice.”

Westwood: “No. We didn’t get justice because it was one mistake after another.”

While the statute of limitations in many of these cases has long expired, Westwood — who says he was abused by a priest at St. Mary Assumption in Lawrenceville beginning back in the late 1960s — and other victims expected lawmakers to pass legislation giving victims a two-year look-back window to file civil lawsuits.

Two years after the report was released, many said it looked promising when lawmakers in both the House and Senate approved an amendment to the Constitution.

But state officials forgot to advertise it before the deadline. Since then, lawmakers have been unable to reach a consensus.

“It’s actually been stretched out so long, it’s actually criminal,” said State Sen. Wayne Fontana, a Democrat from Brookline.

Fontana, who grew up Catholic, said the victims deserve acknowledgment and compensation.

There’s now a renewed effort in Harrisburg to help the victims. The House recently passed an amendment that would allow victims to file civil lawsuits.

Voters would ultimately have to approve it, but first, it must pass the Senate, and that could be problematic.

Democrats control the House, but Republicans control the Senate.

Senate Republicans have said they won’t introduce the legislation unless it’s tied to voter identification.

Republican majority leader Joe Pittman sent this statement to 11 Investigates:

“We have been consistent and clear that any change would need to be implemented through the Constitutional amendment process. When advancing this measure, the House would be well served to include language on a voter identification Constitutional amendment, as the Senate did last session. There is no valid justification for Democrats to prevent Pennsylvanians from having the opportunity to also weigh in on voter ID at the ballot box. Both of these are issues Pennsylvanians are passionate about and deserve consideration.”

Earle asked Fontana about this.

Earle: “Is that unfair to the victims?”

Fontana: “It’s unfair. It has nothing to do — voter ID has nothing to do with the victims in this case.”

Westwood, who said he reached out to the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh but never heard back, told Earle he hasn’t given up hope and will continue to fight for his day in court.

Earle: “It’s almost like you’ve been victimized twice, once by the priest and now by the process?”

Westwood: “Exactly because we had the high hopes and we were just left out.”

Westwood told Earle he has an attorney and he’s prepared to file legal action if and when the legislature clears the way.

The Pittsburgh Diocese sent this statement to 11 Investigates after reaching settlements with 224 victims, following the grand jury report’s release:

“Although to protect the privacy of victims-survivors we don’t comment on specific cases, our policy has always been to reach out to anyone who contacts us through the victims’ assistance coordinator. We’ve always taken these calls very seriously. We take seriously our obligation to turn over claims to proper civil authorities.

“We also want to make sure people understand what the fund is and how it operated. The Diocese of Pittsburgh established the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP) in January of 2019. The goal of the Program was to seek to promote healing by providing compensation to victims-survivors of abuse by priests or deacons of the diocese. The deadline to submit claims to the IRCP was September 30, 2019. The program was completely managed by Kenneth Feinberg and Camille Biros of the Feinberg Group.

“Individuals who chose to voluntarily participate in the program were able to register through a website and download forms to help them provide details of the nature of their claim. Any issues with access to claim materials were handled by the Feinberg Group. Mr. Feinberg and Ms. Biros retained complete and sole discretion over eligibility and all compensation offers to eligible victims who participated in the Program.”

The diocese paid out $19.2 million in total settlements. Westwood was not included in those settlements.

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