BUFFALO, N.Y. - Amid a scandal featuring allegations of sexual abuse by priests, and charges that the Buffalo Catholic Diocese under the leadership of Bishop Joseph Malone sought to cover for members of the clergy who were accused, the diocese and Districts Attorney throughout Western New York have agreed to some changes to a 15 year old memorandum of understanding (MOU), regarding the reporting of alleged sex abuse.
Two on Your Side was first to reveal the existence of the MOU back in August.
However, the most controversial aspect of it also remains in place, according to Erie County District Attorney John Flynn.
The Changes
The previous MOU exempted the Diocese from having to report allegations of abuse, if the allegation involved incidents said to have have occurred more than five years prior to their reporting. At the time of its signing, the statute of limitations would have prevented them from being prosecutable anyway.
Since the MOU was signed, however, New York State changed the statute of limitations for several of the most serious sex crimes.
In order to align with current law, the two sides agreed to that those particular crimes, if alleged, should be reported.
The sanctity of the confessional also remains in the MOU, as it exempts priests from from having to report anything they might hear of, during penance.
But what hasn't changed is what some cite as the most controversial clause…an agreement that any allegations learned of by clergy or church employees, should first be reported to the diocese, which will then decide whether to tell the DA.
Despite his reservations, Flynn signed onto the agreement anyway.
“Obviously we wouldn’t say no to the agreement and so we entered into it….but at the end of the day, legally, they don’t have to tell us anything, said Flynn. “At the end of the day, if they wanted to thumb their noses at us, they can because this memorandum of understanding has no teeth to it.”
Making the MOU Moot
Flynn held up a piece of paper, and rattled off a lengthy list of those who, by virtue of their profession, are required by state law to be “mandatory reporters” of abuse, or even suspected abuse.
"You don’t see clergy on this list and that's a problem," said Flynn.
“When the next state legislative session starts, I am going to Albany and I am going to lobby as hard as I can to get clergy added to this list," Flynn said.
His point is that if clergy and church employees are made -by law- to become mandatory reporters (and would in fact be breaking the law if they failed to report) the MOU would be moot.
“Once that happens we can tear it up,” Flynn said.
In the meantime, Flynn reminded that despite the MOU, there is no law precluding church employees from reporting their suspicions to police, whether they report it to the diocese first or not.
“And I would hope that they would do that, because I would want to know,” Flynn said.
Amendment to memorandum of understanding regarding the report of allegations of sexual abuse by WGRZ-TV on Scribd