After a lengthy fight to keep the files private, the Joliet Diocese recently agreed to turn over the personnel files of 16 priests with substantiated allegations of child sex abuse against them. As expected, these files show that the Joliet Diocese covered up child sex abuse by priests for decades. Sadly, these files also indicate that two abuse victims committed suicide.
The Joliet Diocese typically responded to allegations of child sex abuse by a priest by moving the accused priest to a different church or sending the priest on an out-of-state assignment. This approach allowed pedophile priests to abuse countless victims as they moved from parish to parish.
HM&M currently represents men who were abused by predators in the Joliet Diocese. These men were not only victimized by their abusers, but also by the Joliet Diocese. The Joliet Diocese is directly responsible for the abuse suffered by these men because it chose to protect the church's reputation by shielding pedophiles, instead of protecting innocent children.
