Lawsuits against Chicago Archdiocese allege sexual abuse at former South Side parish

Started the loop today talking about a lawsuit that's been filed against the Archdiocese of Chicago for decades of clergy sex abuse, alleged clergy sex abuse at predominantly black parishes. Yeah, you probably remember, like Taryn said at the beginning of the show, we brought you that press conference live, and Gabriela Primus was actually there in person for it all. So we want to check in with Gabby, and Gabby, you have an interview with one of the attorneys now to break it all down for us. Yeah, Sean O'Malley right next to me, part of the law firm. And some really serious, sad allegations against some of the priests who are part of the Archdiocese of Chicago were sex abuse that happened between 1969 and 2002. So what is that? Over three decades of abuse. You guys used the wording of a sex ring that was going on inside of Holy Angels Parish. It's really the one that you guys pointed out. Seven filings done this morning. Can we talk about some of the alleged abuses that were going on that you guys just shared with us minutes ago? Yes, of course. I mean, this opportunity, this tragedy at Holy Angels was a consequence of the fact that the Archdiocese of Chicago permitted George Clements to go rogue with the parish. They had basically an unspoken agreement of mutual non-intervention. George Clements wouldn't come at them, and they would not interfere with him. And as a consequence, he had absolute latitude to do whatever he wants. He brought a hand-selected priest from Louisiana to serve as the principal of the school. And together, they set up systems of sex abuse that went on just about every single day. And it wasn't just them. George Clements, when his old friend, Father Kenneth Brigham, got in trouble back in 72, he ushers him into the parish. The three of those men would commit child sex abuse essentially together. They would set up little parties for kids. Now, of course, the vast majority of the abuse committed on a one-on-one basis. I don't mean to suggest that Paul Smith and George Clemens were actively talking about this and setting up these opportunities to exploit kids at the same time regularly. But they knew what they were doing. They were facilitating each other's abuse. They were protecting one another. And ultimately, they stayed together for 20 years because they knew that they had a great opportunity and situation for them to continue to exploit particularly young boys at their leisure. We reached out, of course, to the Archdiocese of Chicago for a statement. They say they don't comment on pending lawsuits. But part of what you guys set up here is that the Archdiocese allegedly knew of some of these abuses while they were going on. Can you expand? Yes, I have seen the files for George Clements. I've seen the files for Paul Smith. I can't include that information in the complaint at present. Part of our mission, part of our objective of this lawsuit is to make those files and make that information public because they deserve to know this history. I'm seeing the board right here. I think we counted close to 30. You said that there's many more victims who you will also be filing for. So it's not just the seven that has been filed this morning. It's supposed to be much more, many more. That's right. We're going to be filing cases on a rolling basis. Of course, we have to speak with our clients. We have to get their consent. We have to make sure they are fully informed as to what this involves. Because for many of them, you know, it's a significant step. We get John Doe designations for them, of course. But still, being involved in a lawsuit is a big ask. Now, to their credit, I'm yet to have a single client who's expressed any reservations about us filing a case on their behalf. If anything, they've been very motivated to see that we're taking this action at this time. And correct me if I'm wrong, but a lot of these priests, all of them have passed. What are your clients seeking out of these suits? It's a range. Of course, overwhelmingly, they're looking for accountability, looking for acknowledgement. They want an opportunity to be recognized. They want this situation to be recognized. they don't want men like George Clements to continue on with a false legacy of decency and heroism which is absolutely false the man was an imposter and I'll say it again he was very likely the most prolific child molester in the history of the Archdiocese of Chicago and even myself hearing that name not being maybe alive when when Clements was known you know the most here in Chicago but um somewhat known as as an icon in the Catholic Church correct uh within the Catholic Church but particularly within the Black Catholic community I cannot emphasize that enough he was essentially the Pope of the Black Catholic community in Chicago he made Holy Angels his own little jurisdiction that he was the bishop of and so the notion that these victims these many many victims were going to turn around to their Catholic parents and say that this man George Clements did this to me it's ridiculous and on those occasions in which it did occur we've got plenty of clients who did try to tell people they were summarily shut down and disregarded and we know from the history of reviewing other personnel files that are in the public domain that when victims come forward to the archdiocese they are similarly disregarded and shut down and told that they're not credible. You know, I can only imagine that this is not going to stay just within the Holy Angels Parish. Do you see this already going to different parishes within the Archdiocese of Chicago? Of course. I think perhaps the most significant revelation from our analysis and again, looking at those other personnel files is that there are close connections between these men. The way they operated was modeled off of what George Clements did first. They specifically cited him as precedent for the fact that they were housing multitudes of boys in their rectories. The Archdiocese of Chicago knew about all this. They did not care. Men were not getting away with this in the suburbs. It was allowed to thrive and expand in the inner city of Chicago at these predominantly black parishes, and that is not a coincidence. And so, yes, we believe there's more. We believe that there's specific parishes that are the most likely other hotbeds for this type of abuse because we know that there are substantiated child molesters who spent time there during this course of time you know i only have maybe two more questions because i know that you're giving us a lot of time thank you for that um how how are some of these these clients doing now obviously they you know i can only imagine i should say that they kept this in for for so long um were they willing to talk about some other traumas how are they doing now well of course i We have the benefit of when we talk to a client, a prospective client, they've already internally crossed the threshold where they're willing to talk, at least to some degree. And so that makes it a whole lot easier to get that conversation going. I could not say that if I showed up at one of these victims' homes that, of course, they would open up because, you know, people have to get there. You know, again, we've had clients who have been aware of this investigation and are interested in speaking with victims for quite some time. They just weren't ready. And then one day, something changes, they call in, and they tell us something horrendous and credible. Yeah, you said that you guys have a hotline. I know that you likely don't have it memorized right now, but we'll make sure to share it on our website. For people who are watching, what would that helpline help with? I mean, is it just getting in touch with you and trying to get the accountability that they would like to see? Well, of course. I mean, we want to talk to anybody who's experienced something, who's seen something, or knows someone who has. Because what the Holy Angels investigation has taught us is that the way to establish these sorts of, you know, mass tragedies and to understand how they occurred and to understand, you know, what really occurred is you have to get deep into the details of what happened. And you have to reconstruct these social dynamics based off of lots and lots of information, extensive hours of interviews, not just talking about their experiences with abuse, but about all the dynamics at the school, all the dynamics at the church. And that's the same for these other parishes. We want to talk to anybody who has anything they want to be heard, anything interesting they have to say. Now, if we can help them, because they're a survivor, we're happy to do that. Even if they're not, even if they just want to tell their story, we want to hear from them. there are others who just believe they saw something or had some concerns about something and are willing to help we want to hear from them too Sean, thank you so much I really appreciate your time um again we'll share more information on our website foxchicago.com um we'll have that helpline on there again we reached out to the Archdiocese of Chicago um for comment they said they don't comment on pending lawsuits um so we will send it back to you guys for now okay Gabby thank you and this is uh heavy um stuff that we're talking about so help is available we just want to share a support line for you. This is the National Child Abuse Hotline. You can call 800-422-4453 or you can also text the word BEGIN to that number, 800-422-4453.