Jurisdiction saves Philly archdiocese from culpability for priest's alleged sex abuse in New Jersey
In a blow for clergy sex abuse victims, the New Jersey State Supreme Court has ruled that a Catholic archdiocese's accountability for an alleged predatory priest does not cross state lines.
The decision arose from the case of an Illinois man who accused Michael J. McCarthy, a priest in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1965 until he was defrocked in 2006, of molesting him during an overnight stay in Margate in 1971, when he was 14 and a member of McCarthy's parish.
The man, identified only as D.T. in court paperwork, sued the archdiocese in May 2020 in New Jersey, one year after state legislators here enacted the New Jersey Child Victims Act.
That law created a two-year window, from 2019 to 2021, to allow people to revive previously time-barred civil claims arising from childhood sexual abuse. Thereafter, under the law, victims can sue for childhood abuse before they turn 55 or within seven years of realizing the abuse caused them harm. Most states, including Pennsylvania, do not have such laws, leaving victims seeking justice for long-ago abuse with no legal recourse.
But a New Jersey trial court twice dismissed D.T.'s claim, citing a lack of jurisdiction, and an appellate panel upheld the dismissals. On Tuesday, Justice Anne Patterson affirmed the lower courts' decisions.
'The conduct that D.T. alleges — a priest's exploitation of his clerical role to sexually abuse a minor — is reprehensible,' Patterson wrote for a unanimous court. 'The sole issue before the Court, however, is whether our courts may exercise personal jurisdiction over the Archdiocese in the setting of this case.'
The short answer is no, Patterson wrote, because the alleged abuse occurred at a private home and McCarthy — not the archdiocese — got permission from D.T.'s widowed mother to take her son on the trip. McCarthy took the teen to Margate specifically so that he could have unsupervised access to him, without his superiors' knowledge, she added.
'There is no evidence that any Archdiocese representative was aware of McCarthy's impending trip, let alone that it assigned McCarthy to take D.T. to New Jersey,' Patterson wrote. 'There is no evidence that McCarthy conducted business on behalf of the Archdiocese in New Jersey, or that the trip entailed any religious or ecclesiastical activities.'
McCarthy is one of 23 priests the archdiocese laicized because of credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors; another 42 had credible allegations too but are no longer living.
Mark Crawford is the New Jersey director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. He spent 20 years pushing New Jersey legislators to pass the New Jersey Child Victims Act but hasn't been successful in similar advocacy in Pennsylvania.
He called Tuesday's ruling 'tragic for victims of abuse.' He likened it to General Motors denying culpability for a defective car that leaves a New Jersey resident injured, solely because they're headquartered in Michigan.
'A priest doesn't stop acting as a priest because he has crossed a state line,' Crawford said. 'He is still working as a priest whether he is in a church, a library, a school, or a private home. He is always 'on the job.''
The Catholic Church's coverup of clergy sex abuse is well-known, he added. He cited the recent revelation that Diocese of Camden lawyers persuaded a judge in 2023 to keep secret a hearing in which they successfully petitioned to block a state investigation of clergy sex abuse.
'It's just deeply disappointing and makes me angry that our judicial system is protecting entities that knowingly allowed predators to cross state lines and commit crimes and then said, 'Wait a minute, we're not responsible,'' Crawford said.
An attorney for D.T. did not respond to a request for comment.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Miami Herald
Pope Leo calls for release of gang hostages in Haiti amid changes on security front
Pope Leo XIV is calling for the release of eight hostages in Haiti, including a 3-year-old boy and a longtime Irish missionary who remain in captivity after being abducted from a mountaintop orphanage by armed gangs in the middle of the night. 'I make a heartfelt appeal to all responsible parties to release the hostages immediately,' the pope said. The pontiff's heartfelt appeal came Sunday during a prayer service where he condemned the widespread 'violence of all kinds, human trafficking, forced displacement and kidnappings' in the volatile Caribbean nation. The comments marked the pope's first public acknowledgement of the unraveling situation in Haiti, where some of his ancestors were from, since the U.S.-born pontiff became the Catholic Church's first American pope in May following the death of Pope Francis in April. During the prayer service, in which he also highlighted other global conflicts, the pope called on the international community to provide tangible support to help create the social and institutional conditions 'that will allow the Haitian people to live in peace.' A week ago Sunday armed gangs breached the Saint-Hélène Orphanage in Kenscoff, an expansive rural enclave in the mountains above Port-au-Prince that has been under constant attack since the start of the year. Once inside, gangs grabbed Gena Heraty, an Irish national who has been working in Haiti since 1993, along with other adults and children. The orphanage is affiliated with Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, NPH International, which confirmed the abductions on its website. The charity was founded by Father William Wasson, a Catholic priest, and serves vulnerable children in nearly two dozen countries across Latin America and Haiti. The kidnappings once more brought Haiti's rise in gang violence to the forefront. In Haiti, Saint-Hélène's orphans include children with disabilities from other orphanages that were attacked. 'The situation of the Haitian people is increasingly desperate,' the pope later said in a post on X. On Friday, the new head of Haiti's beleaguered Transitional Presidential Council, Laurent Saint-Cyr, said the climate of fear, violence and instability that reign inside the country has made life unbearable for the population of nearly 12 million. This includes more than 1.3 million who have been forced to flee their homes, of whom nearly 500,000 are children. Haitians are demanding only one thing, security, Saint-Cyr said, as he announced the firing of the head of the Haiti National Police, Rameau Normil , after 13 months and 20 days on the job. He was replaced by André Jonas Vladimir Parison, the former head of security for the National Palace. The change in leadership of the police came amid growing frustration with the force's failure to rein in armed gangs that now control about 90% of Port-au-Prince and are expanding elsewhere. Last year, more than 5,600 people died in Haiti in gang-related violence, according to the United Nations, and already this year, the country has logged more than 4,000 deaths. EarIier this month, the U.N. announced that more than 1,500 Haitians had been killed between April and June, while hundreds of kidnappings and rapes continue to be documented. At the same time, members of the powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition had pillaged and/or burned at least 410 residences and other buildings, including six schools, health centers and local nongovernmental organizations during the period. Normil first served as director of the Haiti National Police in August 2019 when he replaced Michel-Ange Gédéon. He was fired in November 2020 and then brought back in June 21, 2024, replacing Frantz Elbé. But his tenure was marked by questionable arrests, too much territory lost to gangs, poorly executed police operations, a combative personality and a slow pace in recruiting new cops. Normil also faced questions over corruption and competence after the disappearance of a hotel manager and U.S. veteran, Patrice Miot Jacquet, who was working with a private military contractor in Port-au-Prince and disappeared along with police-issued weapons. But the most damning criticism Normil faced was the loss of 18 territories in 10 months to increasingly powerful gangs despite having more resources at his disposal than Elbé.. Despite that support, the police continued to face issues as Normil failed to effectively coordinate with the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission, cast aside qualified senior officers over accusations they were not loyal to him or were after his job, and his officers became overwhelmed while facing better armed gangs. Paraison, known for his 'warrior' approach to fighting gangs as he defended the National Palace earlier this year, has the confidence of most of the ruling presidential council but faces tough scrutiny as he takes on mired in corruption and human rights abuse allegations. Saint-Cyr called on Paraison to prove himself as a man of action, telling him 'to take all necessary measures to restore security' with the support of the Haitian Armed Forces and the Kenya-led mission. 'Rally your valiant... officers, earn their trust, intensify operations on all fronts, secure vulnerable areas, consolidate the territories we control, and liberate one by one those territories where our compatriots can no longer live in peace,' Saint-Cyr said 'Fear must change sides.'
Epoch Times
3 days ago
- Epoch Times
Terrorist Designation of Cartels Gives US New Power to Target Maduro-Linked Groups: Rubio
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that after designating several criminal groups as global terrorist organizations—including one linked to Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro—the United States will be able to use all its power to eradicate them. 'Here's the thing. We cannot continue to just treat these guys as local street gangs,' Rubio said in an interview with Raymond Arroyo, host at the Catholic media outlet EWTN, broadcast on Aug. 7.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
About 300 migrants start walk north from southern Mexico. Their goal is not the US border
About 300 migrants start walk north from southern Mexico. Their goal is not the US border TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — Escorted by police and accompanied by a Catholic priest, about 300 migrants began walking north on Wednesday from southern Mexico, even as the activist who helped organize them remained in police custody over allegations of human trafficking. On Tuesday, authorities arrested Luis García Villagrán, the leader of a local nongovernmental organization in the city of Tapachula, in the state of Chiapas, for alleged crimes related to his work with migrants. Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said during her daily news briefing on Wednesday that he was 'not an activist' but was tied to trafficking people — and 'that is the crime.' Sheinbaum said there had been an arrest order pending for García Villagrán for years. It was not known why the outspoken and very public figure had not been arrested earlier. Later Wednesday, Mexican authorities said in a statement that investigators had identified a network of migrant smugglers that used various organizations and foundations as a front to move migrants and drugs through Mexico. They did not provide any details. The joint statement from the Attorney General's Office and security forces said García Villagran's alleged role was obtaining false documentation for migrants to allow them to cross Mexico. The group of migrants that left Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala, was small in comparison to migrant caravans in years past. There has been very little movement of migrants in public since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, though migration numbers had been falling even prior to that. Those walking Wednesday said their goal was not to reach the United States, but rather central Mexico. They complained that they had been waiting for months to legalize their status or receive asylum. In recent years, the Mexican government has worked to contain migrants in southern Mexico — far from the border with the U.S. At times, this strategy has swollen migrant numbers in Tapachula until hundreds set out walking in protest. Chiapas is Mexico's poorest state and migrants complain there is little work or available housing. On Wednesday, Johnny López of Ecuador walked with his wife and three children, including a baby born in Tapachula. They had waited in the southern city for the outcome of their asylum application, which was eventually rejected. Now they planned to travel to Mexico City, where López hopes to find work to support his family. The migrants were escorted by immigration agents, police, marines and paramedics. Heyman Vázquez, a Catholic priest who accompanied the migrants, called García Villagran's arrest 'unjust.' Vázquez said it showed the Mexican government's concern over migrant caravans, which he said would be resolved by making it easier for migrants to legalize their status. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at The Associated Press
