CATHOLIC CHURCH CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE LAWYERS

Representing Victims in Catholic Church Clergy Sexual Abuse Lawsuits Nationwide

Levy Konigsberg is investigating claims that children and adults were allegedly sexually abused by priests or clergy workers within the Catholic Church nationwide.

This investigation follows decades of systemic failures where various dioceses across the United States failed to protect parishioners from known predators. From the historic grand jury reports in Pennsylvania and Maryland to the recent bankruptcy filings in California and New York, evidence continues to surface regarding the pervasive cover-up of misconduct. Our clergy sexual abuse lawyers are dedicated to holding these powerful institutions accountable for their actions. Whether your case involves a recent discovery or abuse that occurred decades ago, a church & clergy sexual abuse lawyer can help you navigate the evolving statutes of limitations and lookback windows available in many states. As experienced church and clergy sexual abuse lawyers, we provide the legal firepower necessary to level the playing field against religious organizations and fight for the justice survivors deserve. 

As a nationally recognized trial practice, we’ve known as a leader in sexual abuse lawsuits and have helped survivors and families across the country fight for justice.

If you or a loved one was harmed, contact us today.

Levy Konigsberg is actively investigating claims from survivors who were sexually abused within the Catholic Church. As a nationally recognized trial practice, we’ve known as a leader in sexual abuse lawsuits and have helped survivors and families across the country fight for justice.

Levy Konigsberg is passionate about helping survivors navigate their legal journeys and goes the extra mile to provide the counsel and representation they deserve. Some of the ways we help clients:

• Supporting survivors. We take a personalized, compassionate approach toward helping survivors. In addition to handling legal claims, we ensure our clients have access to professionals and resources they need and prioritize their privacy and confidentiality at every stage.
• Sexual abuse investigations. Meticulous investigations are crucial when litigating against powerful institutions like the Catholic Church. Our team leverages extensive resources to conduct independent investigations, gather evidence during discovery, and consult with relevant experts as we look to strengthen survivors’ claims.
• Legal firepower. Institutions view sexual abuse claims as threats to their reputations and bottom lines, leading them to aggressively deny and dispute claims. At Levy Konigsberg, we provide the legal firepower survivors need to level the playing field and fight for the justice they deserve.
• Accountability. Our goal in claims against dioceses is to ensure these institutions are held accountable for their failures to protect parishioners. As evidenced by past cases, these claims can succeed in compelling dioceses to fix problems and prevent future abuse.
• Settlement negotiations or litigation. Backed by highly experienced trial lawyers, Levy Konigsberg excels in producing positive outcomes for clients both in out-of-court settlement negotiations and litigation at trial. We work closely with clients to help them understand when efficient settlements can be reached and explain their options should trial be necessary.

• How We Help Catholic Church Sex Abuse Survivors
• Statute of Limitations for Clergy Abuse Lawsuits
• How Much Compensation Can I Recover?
• History of Catholic Church Sexual Abuse Litigation
• Levy Konigsberg: Best Clergy Sexual Abuse Attorneys

History of Catholic Church Sexual Abuse Litigation

Years of highly publicized investigations and legal filings have made it clear: the Catholic Church has a long and deeply concerning legacy of sexual abuse and cover-ups.

From damning data releases to historic settlements, there are mountains of evidence to indicate that the Catholic Church routinely engaged in the pervasive and systematic cover up of sexual abuse by priests, teachers, volunteers, and other church members.

Some notable cases and investigations of the Church’s misconduct include:

• In November 2023, the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, located in New York, presented a $200 million settlement proposal for sex abuse claims. This proposal encountered opposition from a bankruptcy judge who sought more detailed financial disclosures. The diocese’s strategy involves $50 million in cash from its own funds, with an additional $150 million contributed by its parishes and other Catholic entities. This proposed settlement would mark the largest offer ever made in a Catholic diocese bankruptcy, both in total amount and on a per-claimant basis, according to Rockville Centre officials. Despite these intentions to address around 600 sex abuse claims, progress has been hindered, leading to skepticism from representatives of abuse survivors.
• In December 2023, the Diocese of Sacramento, under the leadership of Bishop Jaime Soto, announced its intention to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by March 2024. This decision stems from over 250 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by clergy and staff. Bishop Soto emphasized that the bankruptcy process would facilitate equitable compensation for survivors of abuse. However, critics such as the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) opposed the move, arguing that settlements often decrease in bankruptcy proceedings. The diocese stressed the importance of establishing a fund to ensure compensation for all victims, considering the potential depletion of diocesan resources in trial cases. The rise in lawsuits across California, including Sacramento, followed changes in state laws permitting suits regardless of the statute of limitations, with many claims dating back to 1980 or earlier.
• In August 2023, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an effort to address approximately 500 lawsuits alleging childhood sexual abuse by priests. Most of the reported abuse incidents occurred in the 1960s and 1970s and involved priests who are now deceased or former members of the clergy. Serving a Catholic community of 442,000 individuals, the Archdiocese faces assets and liabilities estimated between $100 million and $500 million. This bankruptcy filing follows similar actions taken by the dioceses of Oakland and Santa Barbara. Despite significant settlements reached in previous Catholic bankruptcies, many dioceses remain in bankruptcy proceedings without finalizing agreements, largely due to changes in state laws allowing for the submission of new abuse claims.
• In 2002, The Boston Globe’s coverage of criminal charges brought against five Boston-area Roman Catholic priests, all of whom were convicted and sentenced to prison, brought the issue of child sexual abuse within the church into the national spotlight. The coverage revealed allegations from thousands of minors who had been abused over decades with the aid of a cover-up by several large dioceses. The Boston Archdiocese later settled over 500 abuse-related claims for $85 million.
• In 2007, the Los Angeles Archdiocese agreed to pay $660 million to settle sexual abuse claims. The settlement, which remains the largest paid by the Church, brought the total amount paid out by the Church at the time to over $2 billion.
• In 2018, the Pennsylvania Attorney General released the results of a two-year grand jury investigation into widespread child sexual abuse within six Catholic dioceses. The grand jury report named over 300 “predator priests” and detailed the systemic cover up efforts by senior church officials.
• In 2019, the Anderson Report named hundreds of priests and church workers accused of child sexual abuse in Illinois over the previous 50+ years. The report, which named 400 priests and individuals who served in parishes or schools, contained more than twice the number of priests publicly identified by the state’s Catholic dioceses, including the Chicago Archdiocese.
• In 2019, some of the most important findings about the scope of Missouri clergy abuse lawsuits came from a 2019 report from the Missouri Attorney General. Regarded as the largest-ever independent review of Missouri church personnel records, the Missouri AG report revealed an alarming pattern of abuse and a systemic church-enabled cover-up dating back more than six decades.
• In May 2019, former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced that his office had launched a sweeping investigation into clergy abuse lawsuits in California.
• In January 2020, ProPublica released a comprehensive list of priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse in various states across the country, including those involved in clergy abuse lawsuits in Pennsylvania.
• In January 2023, clergy abuse lawsuits in New Jersey revealed that New Jersey’s Catholic Dioceses had not made significant updates to their list of credibly accused priests since its publication in 2019, despite numerous lawsuits and promises for transparency.
• In April 2023, the Maryland Attorney General concluded a four-year investigation by releasing a damning legal action against the Baltimore Archdiocese. The report implicated over 150 clergy members and officials in more than 600 incidents of child sexual abuse spanning eight decades, as well as the church’s efforts to cover up the abuse and silence victims.
• In May 2023, clergy abuse lawsuits in Illinois were filed revealing a significant discrepancy in the reported cases of child abuse by clergy members spanning the last seventy years. The Office of the Illinois Attorney General recently released a detailed 696-page report outlining the investigation’s findings. The report presents compelling evidence of the widespread shortcomings within all six Roman Catholic Dioceses in Illinois regarding the handling of child sexual abuse allegations involving priests and other members of the clergy. It highlights the failure to adequately address reports and protect children from known abusers, exposing systemic flaws within the Church’s hierarchy.
• In May 2023, a Rochester, NY jury granted $95 million in damages to a local man who suffered sexual abuse as a minor in 1979 by former priest Foster P. Rogers. The clergy abuse lawsuit in New York indicate that the Rochester New York Diocese transferred Rogers to various churches.
• In June 2023, Vincent DeLorenzo, a former Priest implicated in the Flint Michigan clergy abuse lawsuits, received a one-year jail sentence and probation after confessing to attempting first-degree criminal sexual conduct. DeLorenzo, initially facing seven felony charges related to two victims, ultimately admitted guilt to a single charge. This charge stemmed from the sexual assault of a 5-year-old boy in 1987, which occurred after a funeral service for a member of the victim’s family.
• In November 2023, the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, proposed a $200 million settlement for sex abuse claims. The diocese’s plan includes $50 million in cash from itself and an additional $150 million contributed by its parishes and other Catholic organizations. This proposed payout would be the largest settlement offer ever made in a Catholic diocese bankruptcy, both in total and per claimant basis, according to Rockville Centre. The proposal aims to resolve around 600 sex abuse claims.
• In January 2024, the Diocese of Orange and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles settled a clergy child sex abuse case for a record-breaking $10 million, marking the largest clergy abuse lawsuits in California.

Levy Konigsberg represents adult and child survivors of Catholic priest sexual abuse across the country. If you or a loved one experienced sexual abuse of any kind in the Catholic Church, let us help you seek justice.

Statute of Limitations for Clergy Abuse Lawsuits

Civil sexual abuse lawsuits are subject to a legal deadline known as a statute of limitations.

Knowing the statute of limitations is important, as plaintiffs who fail to file before the statute of limitations expires lose their right to bring legal action and recover damages.

Determining the statute of limitations applicable to your Catholic Church lawsuit can be challenging, as there are many factors that can influence how long you have to file. Some of these factors include:

• The state where your abuse occurred and your age at the time of abuse. Different states have different statutes of limitations that apply to civil claims for sexual abuse. Many states also impose different statutes of limitations upon claims if the plaintiff was a minor at the time of the abuse. As a firm that’s litigated sexual abuse claims in states across the country, our team can help evaluate the laws as they relate to your claim and jurisdiction.
• Delayed discovery rule. In some cases, state law may allow survivors to “toll” or delay the statute of limitations in their case until the “date of discovery,” which is when the survivor “discovers” the connection between their abuse and the harm they’ve suffered, such as depression, anxiety, intimacy issues, and other mental health problems. Because survivors often repress and block memories of abuse, the delayed discovery rule can provide more time for survivors who connect their harms to past abuse years down the line.
• Whether specific sexual abuse laws have been passed in your state. Thanks to a growing understanding of how survivors process abuse, states across the country have begun passing legislation to amend laws regarding civil sexual abuse claims and their statutes of limitations.

Some of these laws greatly extend the amount of time survivors have to file claims, while some create special temporary, lookback windows that allow survivors to file actions that would have been barred by the previous statute of limitations. Some examples:

• In California, adults have 10 years from the date of injury or 3 years from the date of discovery to file claims for sexual abuse, while survivors of child sexual abuse have until the age of 40 or within 5 years of discovery to file claims. Additionally, CA Assembly Bill 2777 created a one-year lookback window for adult sexual abuse claims that involved attempts or willful concealment of sexual assaults. The window under that California sexual abuse law expires at the end of 2023.
• In Maryland, a new law has removed the statute of limitations on child sex abuse claims and revived claims that previously expired.
• In New York, the NY Child Victims Act extended the statute of limitations for childhood sex abuse lawsuits to let survivors file claims until the age of 55. Another New York law, the NY Adult Survivors Act, created a one-year lookback window that allows survivors abused as adults to file claims for abuse that occurred at any time in the past.
• In Pennsylvania, a pending bill would create a temporary two-year window for survivors to file claims.

There are many other states that have extended statutes of limitations for sexual abuse lawsuits, but there are also many states that have not. Given the variance in filing deadlines, we encourage survivors to speak with our clergy sexual abuse attorneys at Levy Konigsberg about their potential cases as soon as they are ready.

How We Help Catholic Church Sex Abuse Survivors

The Catholic Church has been a large and powerful entity within the U.S. for decades, and evidence of its failures to stamp out sexual abuse is routinely being exposed. Our clergy sexual abuse lawyers continue to investigate claims brought to us by survivors in states and dioceses across the country.

Our latest efforts include a focus on the below and many more.

• Alabama Clergy
• Baltimore Clergy
• California Clergy
• Connecticut Clergy
• Florida Clergy
• Illinois Clergy
• Louisiana Clergy
• Maine Clergy
• Massachusetts Clergy
• Michigan Clergy
• Missouri Clergy
• New Hampshire Clergy
• New Jersey Clergy
• New Mexico Clergy
• New York Clergy
• Ohio Clergy
• Pennsylvania Clergy
• Rhode Island Clergy
• Washington Clergy

Do I Have A Case?

You may have a sexual abuse claim against the Catholic Church if:

• You were sexually abused as a minor or an adult within the Church.
• The abuser was a priest, clergy member, or some other Church volunteer or employee.
• Your abuse occurred at any time in the past.

As with civil sexual abuse cases, claims filed with the bankruptcy settlement fund are separate from any criminal proceedings that may arise from abuse. Instead, they focus on holding the Archdiocese liable for damages. This means you may still have a claim even if:

• Your abuser is no longer alive.
• Your abuser was never charged or convicted of a crime.

Determining whether you have grounds to pursue a claim can be challenging, which is why our team at Levy Konigsberg is readily available to help.

Recoverable Damages in Sexual Abuse Claims

In addition to providing accountability and a sense of justice, civil sex abuse lawsuits allow survivors to recover financial compensation for their damages, which may include:

• Past medical and mental health expenses
• Future mental health expenses, including therapy, medications, etc.
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional anguish and psychological harm
• Lost income
• Other economic and non-economic damages

Levy Konigsberg is closely tracking clergy sexual abuse lawsuits and investigations and is actively working with survivors looking for information about filing claims under the new extended statute of limitations or two-year lookback window, should these measures become law.

We Represent Survivors in All Types of Sex Abuse Claims

At Levy Konigsberg, we have the experience and resources to help survivors in sexual abuse lawsuits involving all types of institutions and circumstances, including:

• Boy Scout Sexual Abuse
• Catholic Church Sexual Abuse
• Cruise Ship & Airline Sexual Abuse
• Doctors or Medical Staff Sexual Abuse
• Entertainment Industry Sexual Abuse
• Foster Care Sexual Abuse
• Group Home Sexual Abuse
• Hotel & Motel Sexual Abuse
• Other Religious Group Sexual Abuse
• Police Sexual Assault
• Psychiatric Hospital Sexual Abuse
• Rideshare Sexual Abuse
• School Sexual Abuse
• Sex Trafficking Lawsuits
• Social Media & Online Games Sexual Abuse
• Spas and Massage Parlors Sexual Abuse
• Summer Camp Sexual Abuse
• Voyeurism
• Women’s Prison Sexual Abuse
• Youth Facility Sexual Abuse
• Youth Sport Sexual Abuse