Sex abuse victim is paid $6.3 million by Belleville Diocese
St. Peter's Catholic Cathedral in Belleville on Wednesday,
August 10, 2011. Photo by Johnny Andrews |
jandrews@post-dispatch.com
BELLEVILLE • A clergy sex abuse case with
misconduct dating to the 1970s finally ended Wednesday when James
Wisniewski's attorney was handed two checks — one red, the other
blue — totaling $6.3 million.
Though the case during trial shed a light on how disgraced
priest Raymond Kownacki was reassigned to minister at different
parishes, it brought little resolution to a set of uncertainties
facing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville.
A large group of priests in Southern Illinois has been calling
for Bishop Edward Braxton's resignation, claiming he mismanaged the
Wisniewski case and others. Braxton also has brought the attention
of a national Catholic publication that recently suggested the
diocese has financial woes.
The $6.3 million was paid after a nine-year court battle marked
by multiple appeals by the diocese. The damages were paid three
years after a jury awarded Wisniewski, of Champaign and now in his
early 50s, $5 million in a suit in which he claimed Kownacki
sexually abused him as a child. But since the 2008 verdict, the
judgment grew by another $1.3 million with interest as the
Belleville diocese continued to contest the case, drawing
criticism.
As recently as last month, Braxton asked the Illinois Supreme
Court to reconsider the matter. Of the original $5 million award,
$2.6 million was designated as punitive damages.
"I hope this will help the Catholic community," Wisniewski's
attorney, Mike Weilmuenster, said after a brief hearing Wednesday
at the St. Clair County Courthouse. "It has been quite
splintered."
He thanked the jury in the case because it compensated his
client and attempted to send "a message to the Belleville diocese
that enabling childhood sexual abuse and covering it up will not be
tolerated by this community."
Weilmuenster said later in an interview that his client has yet
to receive a direct apology from church leadership.
The Rev. John Myler, a spokesman for the diocese, said, "The
diocese continues to express our regret for any instances of
childhood sexual abuse by a member of the clergy."
Even though the payment was made, with at least $1.5 million
coming from insurance, the diocese wouldn't comment specifically
about the case. Myler would only add that the "diocese is committed
to adhering to its childhood protection policy and the diocese will
continue to assist victims and their families according to that
policy."
Kownacki was removed from the ministry in 1995 after abuse
allegations began to surface. A former housekeeper accused him of
raping, beating and performing an abortion on her in the 1970s.
That case, which alleged Kownacki was quietly shuffled between
parishes, was dismissed after the state Supreme Court ruled that it
exceeded the statute of limitations.
Even though Wisniewski filed his case about three decades after
he was abused, the jury agreed that the diocese concealed and
misrepresented facts about Kownacki, so the statute of limitations
did not bar his claim. It's a detail that will likely be argued in
other clergy sex abuse cases, particularly those involving
Kownacki.
Another case was filed against Kownacki in 2003 by a man
identified as John Doe, who as a boy mowed the parish lawn at St.
Theresa's Catholic Church and School in Salem, Ill., where Kownacki
was pastor from 1979 to 1986. That case was settled in 2009 for
$1.2 million. Wisniewski's case also stemmed from the time Kownacki
was at St. Theresa's.
Two more cases are pending against the diocese that allege
Kownacki sexually abused young boys who are now grown men, as well
as a third case involving a different priest.
Kownacki recently moved from a small apartment in Dupo to an
assisted living home in south St. Louis. Asked about the case on
Wednesday night, he said he did not remember it. He also said he
had suffered a stroke that affected his ability to communicate.
The diocese would not comment about the pending cases or the
criticism that Braxton has received.
In a June letter to his flock regarding the effort to get the
Illinois Supreme Court to reconsider the Wisniewski verdict,
Braxton said it was a difficult time to be bishop. But he said
offenses by priests continue to have "moral, emotional, legal and
financial consequences."
"We are not doing this to 'hide behind the law' as some might
suggest," he said of seeking the appeal. "We are doing this in the
hope of a clarification of the law and a consistency in applying
the law to the Catholic Church. We are also doing it in the hope of
conserving resources for responding to other abuse victims and for
sustaining the pastoral services of the Diocese of Belleville."
The Southern Illinois Association of Priests has long asked that
Braxton be replaced and recently cited the Wisniewski case as an
example of why.
The National Catholic Reporter, an independent Catholic
newspaper, reported in July that a member of the Belleville
diocesan finance council, James Friederich, had called Braxton "a
financial disaster."
Friederich noted that Braxton "did not ask the council for its
advice or consent before allowing the Wisniewski suit to go to
trial," nor did he seek "the advice or consent of the council
before he decided to appeal the $5 million judgment rather than try
to settle for less money."
Friederich also predicted the diocese "will soon be bankrupt
because of (Braxton's) arrogance" with finances and handling of sex
abuse cases, according to the National Catholic Reporter story.
Friederich recently declined to comment to the Post-Dispatch. A
request to interview James Mroczkowski, the chief financial officer
of the diocese, was denied.
Weilmuenster, the attorney, said priests have approached him in
support of the case that resulted in the payment Wednesday. Both he
and his client, Wisniewski, are still Catholics. He said "it's a
shame" that priests overall have been "tarred with the brush of
actions" from those who committed abuse.
"The vast majority of priests live very good lives and do very
great things," Weilmuenster said.
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