Bankruptcy judge rules AG cannot investigate victims’ reports identifying 218 previously unnamed alleged sex offenders from Milwaukee archdiocese
Survivors expect AG Kaul to appeal the decision
Victims group calls decision a “danger” to public safety
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 10-2-2024
Clergy abuse survivors and advocates will hold a press conference outside the Federal Courthouse in Downtown Milwaukee on Tuesday afternoon to respond to Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge G. Michael Halfenger’s recent decision denying the Wisconsin DOJ’s motion to unseal documents related to the rape and sexual abuse of children and its institutional concealment within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
When: Thursday, October 3rd, 2024, 11:30am
Where: Steps outside U.S. Courthouse and Federal Office Building, 517 E. Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Who: Survivors of clergy sexual abuse, including a former priest and member of the creditors committee in the Milwaukee archdiocese bankruptcy
What: A press conference featuring victims of the Milwaukee archdiocese criticizing Judge Halfenger’s decision and discussing AG Kaul’s probable appeal
Why: On Monday, September 30th, Judge Halfenger ruled against Attorney General Josh Kaul, blocking the Wisconsin DOJ from investigating nearly 600 victim reports of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. These reports contain direct evidence of over 10,000 incidents of abuse by close to 300 Catholic clergy, teachers, and volunteers.
In January 2022, Nate’s Mission delivered thousands of pages of whistleblower documents and evidence to the Wisconsin DOJ. Among these was a secret list from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee containing at least 218 names of accused clergy and other Catholic personnel who have not been identified by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee on their list of “restricted priests.”
Last August, the Wisconsin DOJ filed a motion to confidentially review documents related to these victim reports that were sealed in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s 2015 bankruptcy case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
Halfenger’s decision marks the second time a Milwaukee bankruptcy judge has refused the request by victims to turn over their reports to the Wisconsin Attorney General. In a motion by victims’ attorneys, unanimously approved by the bankruptcy’s creditor’s committee, survivors urged the court to make the documents available to the DOJ, to “determine if there are any crimes committed not only by the abusers but also by those who protected them.”
“All of us survivors absolutely wanted the Attorney General to investigate the crimes committed against us. It’s appalling that law enforcement in Wisconsin can’t access victim reports of rape and sexual abuse from our own community because a bankruptcy judge says so. That’s why we expect that AG Kaul will appeal and the decision will be overruled,” said Kevin Wester, a clergy abuse victim, former priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and member of the creditors committee.
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