A man who says he was sexually abused by a priest alleges the Diocese of Trenton and other Catholic Dioceses have secret files that could help provide evidence against his abuser and many others.

Bruce N. claims when he was 16 years old, the Rev. Gerry Brown of St. Mary of the Lake in Lakewood sexually abused Bruce and tried to rape him.

At the time, Bruce was a seminary student and Brown was a longtime, trusted priest at the parish. NorthJersey.com, a part of the USA Today Network, reports that Bruce found out in 2013 that the priest allegedly molested other boys, too.

Brown died in 2013, but his name appeared on a list of priests who were credibly accused of sexual abuse released by the Trenton diocese.

In 2012, Bruce wrote a book about sexual abuse committed by the powerful men in the Catholic Church. He said he is certain that higher church leaders knew of Brown’s predatory nature, but refused to take any action against the priest.

Abuse Survivor Appeals to Bishop of Diocese of Trenton

As reported in NorthJersey.com, Bruce wrote a letter to Bishop David M. O’Connell of the Diocese of Trenton that said in part, “For decades, the Catholic Church covered up an insidious culture of predatory child abuse, doing everything in its power to protect abusers and silence and intimidate victims and their families. Details of the abuse were held under lock and key in ‘secret files’ hidden from public view. It’s past time for those secret files to be made public.”

Even though the Catholic Church has published lists of names of priests and other church leaders who have had credible accusations made against them, the details that will provide sexual abuse survivors with the facts needed to prosecute largely remain hidden.

According to the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law, each individual diocese must maintain a secret archive of documents locked away and guarded to the extent that only the bishop himself possesses a key.

The archives are suspected of holding decades of information regarding sexual abuse allegations, how far up the hierarchy the accusations went, who helped cover up the abuse and how the cover-up was accomplished and specific allegations against each accused church member.

In some cases, priests accused of child molestation were transferred to a different parish where no one knew of the accusations. In other instances, a priest would be sent to a church-owned treatment center. The parishioners would be told the priest was suffering from a nervous condition or had had a breakdown, which required in-house treatment.

One internal Catholic Church survey of more than 100 dioceses in the U.S., reported by WHYY radio, found that 87 percent of American bishops said they sent priests accused of child abuse to treatment centers. The poll was taken in 1995 and was ordered by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The more information made available to child sexual assault survivors of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, the better their chances of succeeding in court against their accusers.

WHYY reports that effective Dec. 1, 2019, New Jersey residents who were victims of sex abuse will be able to file claims until they turn 55 years old or seven years from the time they realize an injury was the result of past abuse, whichever is the later of the two events.

The law also includes a look-back window of two years for people who didn’t file claims before their statute of limitations expired.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.