A Buffalo man who says that he was abused at age nine adds his story to the long list of Catholic sex abuse cases in New York.

According to Ryan C., his uncle, Father Arthur Smith, served as a priest for many years in the Diocese of Buffalo, and sexually assaulted Ryan when he was nine. Allegedly, this abuse went on for two decades, and Ryan only first shared his story two years ago, according to LifeSite.

Tragically, Ryan’s was not the only case of alleged sexual abuse by Smith. Reports allegedly go back fifteen years, involving both young men and years. The way the Church handled the reports ranged from at best inconsistent to problematic.

For his part, Ryan says that there is a systematic cover up of Catholic sex abuse cases, like his, and the cover up of such cases is systemic. He likens it to a “pedophile mafia.”

States Respond to Catholic Sex Abuse Cases

Critics have said the Catholic church has not done enough to stop what seems like an epidemic of sexual abuse. In response, New York and Pennsylvania have recently taken legal steps to help victims recover from possible Catholic sex abuse cases.

In August of last year, a Pennsylvania grand jury investigated the issue of sexual abuse by Catholic priests. The grand jury investigated records from eight dioceses in Pennsylvania, and found that there had been cases of reported sexual abuses in all of the dioceses. The grand jury reported that at least 1,000 people had reported being abused by Catholic priests or church leaders in the state of Pennsylvania.

Reportedly, the Catholic Church itself had actively tried to cover up cases of sexual abuse. Allegedly, priests and leaders who had been accused of abuse were not removed from their ministry or reported to the police in many cases. Instead, many alleged perpetrators were simply moved to a different position, or any allegations were quickly dismissed.

Now, many people are possibly suffering from the emotional wounds of past abuse by church leaders, while other people may still be suffering abuse at the hands of Catholic priests and church leaders.

Unfortunately, the Catholic sex abuse cases problem doesn’t stop in Pennsylvania. New York lawmakers have been cracking down on the possible problem in their state.

Thanks to a recent change in state law, victims in New York have more time than they did previously to report claims of sexual abuse. Previously, the deadline to initiate criminal prosecution for child sex abuse was when the victim turned 23. However, many people may not be able or willing to come forward with stories of abuse they suffered as a child, and may need more time to be able to do so.

Acknowledging this possibility, on Jan. 28, 2019, New York lawmakers passed the Child Victims Act, which gives victims until they are 55 years old to sue alleged abusers. This law may have a positive impact on those with possible Catholic sex abuse cases to tell their story.

Many people believe that the Catholic Church has not done enough to correct the problem alleged sexual abuse by priests and is still mostly ignoring the problem as opposed to changing the systems that enable it. The Atlantic profiled one Catholic Church leader, Cardinal Seán O’Malley, and his responses to the scandal. 

The publication noted that much of the Church’s response to the issue of Catholic sex abuse cases  has mostly consisted of acknowledging that change should be made and that there is a problem, while not truly working to hold guilty priests accountable or to understand the nature of the problem.

Since the Catholic Church is a large, worldwide organization, systemic change may be difficult and slow to manifest. Still, many victims wonder if they will ever get justice for the harm they claim was done to them.

The New York Times has reported on numerous cases of sexual abuse reported by people. There are numerous cases in which people felt unable to come forward, or when they did come forward, they felt that their Catholic sex abuse cases swept under the rug in an effort to protect allegedly guilty church leaders.