Charlotte Clergy Sexual Abuse Attorneys
Charlotte Diocese parishioners turn to their religious leaders of the Roman Catholic Church for guidance on living a holier life on their spiritual journey. The Church provides instruction and forgiveness by revered priests and other clergy members by sharing Bible passages and Holy Communion as a way to strengthen faith. Sadly, clergy sexual molestation is a serious problem in the Diocese of Charlotte that has hurt the congregation and others for decades.
Over seventy years ago, the Catholic Church, including in western North Carolina, evaded the efforts by local law enforcement to investigate credible allegations of sexual misconduct among the clergy. Church officials often failed to turn over much-needed evidence to hold priests, bishops, cardinals, and other religious leaders accountable for their immoral behavior.
Their stonewalling of Church officials and religious orders efforts failed to protect children and young adults from the heinous actions of a predatory priest.
As a result, the Church’s child molesters were given free rein to continue their inappropriate behavior with easy access to the most vulnerable parishioners. Within the last decade, the Vatican, through the guidance of Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope John Paul II, have provided new regulations on how the local Bishops identify and stop abusers in the congregation.
A Catholic Diocese of Charlotte Child Sex Abuse Attorney Can Help
A clergy abuse lawyer with the compassionate legal team at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC can represent victims of child sex abuse to ensure they are adequately compensated for their damages. Our law firm has collected over $250 million in negotiated settlements and court trial verdict on behalf of our clients. Let us help your family too.
Our law offices accept all claims and lawsuits contingency fee arrangements. This agreement ensures that you avoid paying our legal fees until after we have resolved your case for financial compensation successfully.
The Charlotte Diocese
The Charlotte Diocese manages over ninety parishes and missions across forty-six counties that include Albemarle, Asheville, Boone, Gastonia, Greensboro, Hickory, Mecklenburg, Salisbury, Smoky Mountain, and Winston-Salem.
Recently, the Diocese created a safe environment to protect children and their congregation with the pledge to heal the problems created by clergy sexual misconduct and abuse. Church members adopted procedures and policies as safeguards and assigned a Victim Assistance Coordinator to provide help to survivors of sexual abuse. The coordinator can be reached at:
David Herold, LCSW
(704) 370-3363
david.harold@gmail.com
Contacting the Victim Assistance Coordinator and leaving a message can initiate a response from officials at the Roman Catholic Church within forty-eight hours. However, if your alleged abuse case involves an emergency, it is crucial to contact 911, your local child sexual abuse hotline, or the national new hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD.
In addition to providing protection to children, the Diocese of Charlotte also offers training for adults to quickly recognize sexual abuse of children and take steps to prevent it immediately. The Church requires every employee and volunteer in regular contact with minors to participate in the mandatory workshop training.
The Lifelong Silence of the Sexual Abuse Survivor
Many victims of child sex abuse remain silent for years or decades after the assault occurred. Often, their silence is the result of their sexual abuser using the fear of God and the power of the Roman Catholic Church never to discuss with others what happened. The victim’s silence can empower the predatory priest to continue to harm them and other vulnerable children and young people.
In some incidents, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte Lay Review Board will initiate a church tribunal to investigate the sexual molestation involving a minor. The Diocese’s Lay Review Board’s final judgment might be released to the public after Church officials speak to lay staff, gather evidence, complete a file review, depose witnesses, and listen to pertinent testimony and full accounting from the alleged sexual abuse survivor.
Only then will the Charlotte Diocese’s Lay Review Board make a final determination if the allegations of sexual abuse are credible and offer recommendations on how the Bishop should deal with the problem.
For many years, the Bishop of the Diocese would remain mute and not take action to protect the children of sexual misconduct until or unless the evidence presented was credible. It was only then that they might turn the names of clergy members with abuse allegations over to a grand jury or the local District Attorney’s Office to be held legally accountable.
By then, many years had often passed since the molestation happened, long after the state statute of limitations had expired to file criminal charges or a civil lawsuit. In these cases, even if the victim stepped forward to say what occurred, the charges were dropped, or a sexual abuse lawsuit was dismissed because of the statute of limitation problems.
Defining Sexual Abuse in North Carolina
In North Carolina, sexual abuse is defined as an offense where a predator subjects a victim(s) to abusive and unwanted sexual acts that might include any inappropriate behavior from groping to sodomy and rape. The predator can face first-degree or second-degree rape charges.
First-degree rape involves non-consensual attacks were a deadly weapon is involved, and the victim is seriously injured. The state recognizes statutory rape as a first-degree rape charge when the victim is twelve years old or younger, and the predator is at least twelve years old and at least four years older than the sexual abuse survivor.
Second-degree rape under North Carolina state statutes involves forcible non-consensual sex with an innocent victim who cannot provide consent due to their physical helplessness, incapacitation, or mental disability. Additional information on sex crimes in North Carolina can be found under the state’s General Statute §14-27.21.
The law uses the words “sexual conduct” to describe vaginal intercourse between females and males and other types of intercourse activity regardless of gender. By law, an abused child is any minor involved in “sexual activity” who might exhibit evidence of mental or physical injury. The law uses the words “sexual conduct” to describe vaginal intercourse between females and males and other types of intercourse activity regardless of gender.
Sexual contact identifies inappropriate touching of another individual’s erogenous zone that could extend to the pubic area, buttocks, genitals, thigh, or breasts (female) when attempting to arouse or gratify either individual sexually.
Nearly everyone is required to report inappropriate sexual activity involving a minor, including family members, friends, healthcare professionals, school psychologists, schoolteachers, guardians, and investigative agencies.
Sexual Violence Laws in North Carolina
The Department of Justice for North Carolina provides many avenues for sexual abuse survivors to protect their legal rights and seek justice. Sexual assault and rape victims can take legal action to ensure that sexual abuse stops.
Local law enforcement and the District Attorney’s Office can hold the sexual abuser responsible for the crimes committed against the victim and take measures to ensure that the abuse survivors received justice. The state uses forensic biology and DNA testing to establish a link between the victim and the alleged sexual predator.
In 2019, the state legislature proposed a new bill to initiate the Survivor Act (Standing up for Rape Victims Act) that requires local law enforcement agencies to use sexual assault kits. The bill was enacted into law in North Carolina in January 2019.
Current Lawsuits Filed against the Diocese of Charlotte
In April 2020, the Charlotte Observer published new information involving a lawsuit claim filed against the Diocese, under the guidance of Charlotte Bishop Peter J. Jugis involving incidents with child sexual molestation by clergy members. The lawsuit was filed by two adult males who claimed that Church officials, including Charlotte Bishop Peter Jugis, knew or should have known that there were predatory priests among the congregation.
In 2011 and 2012, the same alleged victims filed a civil lawsuit against the Diocese of Charlotte and religious orders without revealing who they were. By 2014, the court dismissed their cases, citing the statute of limitations had already expired on the alleged incidents. Since the sexual abuse occurred, the men carried the burden of sexual abuse even though the Church knew the names of their abusers.
However, in November 2019, the legislative branch of North Carolina created a two-year open window on civil actions involving child sexual molestation even if the statute of limitations had expired. By December of that year, the Diocese of Charlotte released an updated list of clergy members with credible accusations of child sex abuse.
The list contained the names of fourteen priests known to be sexual predators. Many of them are dead or retired. The Charlotte Diocese today continues to update their lists when new abuse allegations and sexual abuse lawsuits arise. One sexual abuse lawsuit involved Reverend Farwell.
One of the plaintiffs in the newly filed lawsuit attempted to commit suicide multiple times in response to the sexual abuse that occurred years before.
Hiring a Diocese of Charlotte Sexual Abuse Injury Attorney
If you are the victim of sexual molestation, harmed by a clergy member or another religious leader, Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC can help. Our legal team has years of experience, ensuring that our clients receive adequate financial compensation to cover their damages through a civil lawsuit.
Contact our law office today at (888) 424-5757 to schedule a free case evaluation without an obligation to move forward. We will provide a private setting to listen in confidence about what happened.
Did a priest, seminarian, brother, deacon, or another clergy leader sexually molest you years ago? Has the North Carolina statute of limitations expired on your case? If so, we can use our comprehensive understanding of North Carolina tort law to provide numerous options on how to receive a monetary recovery for your damages.
We currently accept all claims and lawsuits for the status of the sexual predator is in “active ministry,” resigned from duty, on a leave of absence, laicized (removed from the priesthood), relocated to another diocese, parish, country, or state, whereabouts unknown, or deceased.