While dioceses attempt to establish a Catholic Church compensation fund for sexual abuse victims, two plaintiffs challenge the intentions behind this fund.

The plaintiffs argue that the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference is supporting the Catholic Church compensation fund in order to avoid being held accountable for the decades of sexual abuse in the diocese.

“[The] Pennsylvania Catholic Conference has repeatedly pledged to restore trust for victims of sexual abuse through accountability and justice,” the complaint said. “These pledges are inconsistent with defendants’ policies, practices and actions demonstrating secrecy of information about priests who have sexually assaulted children in Pennsylvania.”

Several dioceses have proposed establishing a Catholic Church compensation fund to compensate victims that are unable to bring their claims to court due to expired statutes of limitations. The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference expressed support for a Catholic Church compensation fund in September.

“We recognize our responsibility to provide an opportunity for sexual abuse survivors whose cases are time-barred from pursuing civil claims to share their experiences, identify their abusers, and receive compensation to assist their healing and recovery,” said Pennsylvania’s bishop in a statement.

However, the lawsuit filed by plaintiffs Daniel H. and Leeanne N. says that, while a Catholic Church compensation fund may compensate sexual abuse victims, it may also allow the church to get off easy.

In 1982, when Daniel was around 11, he was allegedly sexually abused by a priest at his local church. Despite the priest’s actions, he was allegedly allowed to continue working with the church until 1994. Leeanne reports similar experiences, having been abused by a priest from the ages of 14 to 16. The offending priest allegedly abused her repeatedly while she was attending a local camp for Catholic youth.

The suit argues that the perpetrators of these crimes were put in a position of power over youths which gave them the opportunity to sexually abuse minors. Even after they had offended, these priests were allegedly allowed to retain their position of power over young people – opening up the risk for further sexual abuse.

Daniel and Leeanne argue that this long term show of irresponsibility by the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania cannot be remedied with a Catholic Church compensation fund.

The plaintiffs also argue that the dioceses across the state are actively concealing information regarding the extent of sexual abuse at the hands of priests. Dioceses allegedly follow a church “playbook” to effectively conceal the news of priests sexually abusing children. Daniel and Leeanne, therefore, seek an order “requiring that each [diocese] publicly release the names of all agents, including priests, accused of child molestation, each agents’ history of abuse, each such agents’ pattern of grooming and sexual behavior, and his or her last known address.”

Plaintiffs hope that an injunction by the court will force the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference to implement a new system for handling cases of child abuse in order to better protect children and the general public.

The Catholic Church Compensation Fund Lawsuit is Case No. 181101761 in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County.