CT: Catholic diocese charged under RICO for predator priest coverup

[Are_grits_groceries]

The lawsuit says the Norwich Diocese, its former bishop, Daniel Reilly, and its current vicar general, the Rev. Thomas McBride, should be held accountable under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act - more commonly known as RICO - for conspiring to cover up the criminal conduct of abusive priests.
The complaint was brought by a Connecticut woman, identified only as "Jane Doe," who alleges that she was molested by the Rev. Thomas W. Shea, now deceased, in 1976. Shea has been accused of sexually abusing at least 16 girls in the 11 parishes he served in the Norwich Diocese.

According to published reports and the current lawsuit, Shea was transferred numerous times from the time of the first complaints, in the 1950s, until he was placed on leave by Reilly in 1983. Reilly, who retired as bishop of the Worcester, Mass., diocese in 2004, was bishop of the Norwich Diocese from 1975 to 1994.

In addition to citing the details of Shea's history, the lawsuit gives examples of five other cases involving priests who have been the subject of abuse accusations, including the Revs. Bruno Primavera, Robert Marcantonio, Peter Inzerillo, Richard Buongirno and Bernard Bissonnette. In all of the cases cited, according to the lawsuit, the priests were transferred to new parishes after sexual abuse complaints were made against them, at which point they abused again.

...The lawsuit accuses the defendants of "intentionally, recklessly and/or negligently" concealing the criminal conduct of certain priests, failing to report criminal conduct, obstructing justice, evading criminal investigation, prosecution and liability, bribing victims to keep criminal conduct secret and engaging in mail and/or wire fraud, among other things.

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=139E36AE8B9ECF031637332C5AA12733?diaryId=8883

RICO is one way to go. It sure traps a lot of other people. Michael Vick was looking at possible RICO charges.

[Deep13]

1. Finally. nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. took the blessing out of my mouth.

[Are_grits_groceries]

3. There are times RICO has some benefits. nt

[Hekate]

4. It's about time. nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. tis a criminal organization, that avoids the laws of

every state in which it operates. So what if they have a make-believe collection of scary fairy tales? that matters not.

organized crime? - RICO is precisely the right response.

[defendandprotect]

6. Can't be easy for these victims . . . but good this is going forward --- !!!

[OneBlueSky]

7. as a former Catholic, it has always struck me as more than ironic . . .

that the Catholic Church, the bastion of sex-negative dogma for centuries, is having to pay billions of dollars to victims of sexual abuse by members of their clergy . . . all of the good fathers who were telling us "don't do that" were, in fact, "doing that" on a regular basis -- and generally to the most vulnerable members of their flocks . . .

I guess there's a lesson here somewhere -- though "practice what you preach" just seems so trite . . .

[applegrove]

8. Good for her.