BUFFALO, N.Y. — Editor’s note: This is Part 4 of an ongoing 2 On Your Side series, “Faith & Fallout,” which examines multiple issues facing the Diocese of Buffalo, including the sexual abuse of children, bankruptcy, church closings and how the diocese spends donations by parishioners.
Four and a half years after the Diocese of Buffalo filed for bankruptcy while facing a mountain of child sexual abuse lawsuits, justice remains elusive for survivors.
“Survivors are going to get crumbs that fall from the table. And that's not justice to me, Sean. It's not what they deserve, and it's not what they were promised,” said Kevin Brun, a survivor of clergy sexual abuse.
While bankruptcy litigation continues in federal court, the diocese says it’s a new era of transparency and accountability.
“Since I arrived here, I’m about accountability and transparency,” Bishop Michael W. Fisher said at a news conference announcing a settlement in the lawsuit brought on by New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
But the diocese is currently fighting in state court to prevent both the public and survivors from seeing 25,000 pages of its internal abuse records subpoenaed by Attorney General James. Her office says the records should be public.
Investigative Reporter Sean Mickey submitted an affidavit in court, fighting for the release of the files, because it’s your right to see them.
“I think releasing the files, at least detailing the complaints of sexual abuse and the inner workings of the decision making process and the diocese would demonstrate to survivors that the bishop is serious about being transparent and honest,” said Attorney Stacey Benson of Jeff Anderson & Associates, who represents sex-abuse survivors.
“They deserve it,” she said. “The survivors deserve it.”
The diocese claims its fighting the release of records to protect survivors.
“It’s possible to put together the place, the time that it happened, or associates and draw a conclusion as to who it could be,” Diocese COO Rick Suchan told 2 On Your Side.
Meanwhile, clergy abuse files have already been publicly released after redaction in large cities such as Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Chicago.
Kevin Brun, a former member of the bankruptcy creditors committee, disagrees with the diocese assertion.
“I think it's imperative that the public sees exactly what the devastation was caused by employees of the Diocese of Buffalo,” Brun said.
It’s a view shared by many survivors and attorneys who have spoken with 2 On Your Side Investigates.
“And maybe instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in court fighting this issue, they could be spending their time redacting those names, redacting that information and preparing it for public release,” Benson said.
It’s that type of spending and lack of transparency that irked Federal Bankruptcy Court Judge Carl Bucki. The diocese engaged in the extra litigation, spending over $100,000, without notifying bankruptcy court.
“Counsel may wish to challenge the merits of those arguments, but we see no benefit to the estate from efforts to silence even the consideration of an opposing point of view,” Bucki wrote of the diocese's efforts to stop the local media from obtaining the records.
He subsequently ordered compensation for the diocese attorneys be reduced.
Bishop Fisher declined to discuss this with me in an interview, instead the diocese sent a document with bullet points that reads in part:
“The files at issue in the FOIL request have been shared with both the Office of the Attorney General and in the bankruptcy proceedings. Thus, they are not 'secret' files and have been provided to those that have the need to see them.”
However, survivors themselves tell 2 on Your Side that they have been denied access to these files. That’s why survivors like Brun continue to speak out against the diocese.
“Everyone in life needs to stand up at some point, and this is where I've chosen to stand on behalf of survivors and victims, with the hopes that someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, that we can actually achieve some type of justice, Sean,” Brun said.
A downstate judge is expected to issue a ruling on whether or not the files will be released within the next two months.
Have a tip for the 2 On Your Side Investigates team? Contact Charlie Specht at Charlie.Specht@wgrz.com or Sean Mickey at Sean.Mickey@wgrz.com. All tips will be treated as confidential.