More details are emerging as to what alleged victims of child sexual abuse at the hands of employees of the Baltimore Catholic Archdiocese after the organization filed for bankruptcy last week.
It’s likely that victims will only have a four-to-nine-month period to file claims for compensation, according to testimony at the first bankruptcy hearing, which took place on Tuesday.
Victims and advocates for survivors say the limitations imposed by the bankruptcy proceedings completely defeat the purpose of the Child Victims Act, which abolished the statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases.
“The church took away the child victim act, when they filed the bankruptcy, we worked for decades to get that law passed,” said Theresa Lancaster, an abuse survivor and lawyer. “The victims will have a limited time to file a proof of claim and bankruptcy court.”
Part of the push for the Child Victims Act was to allow for people to sue for compensation once they come to terms with their abuse. According to a study by BMC Public Health, the average age that a sexual abuse survivor reports the crime is 52, meaning sometimes decades pass between the incident and the victim’s ability to confront it.
Over the coming months, the bankruptcy court will look at the Baltimore Archdiocese’s assets and decide if the hundreds of expected lawsuits from victims would be a catastrophic liability for the organization. If so, the court will figure out how the church can best restructure itself to give victims compensation within the limitations of its assets.
“There will be a discovery process where information is shared back and forth to determine how much money the church has to satisfy the creditors,” said Robert Jenner, managing partner at Jenner Law, who represents some of the victims. “They will look at how much insurance there is, what are the assets that are available to satisfy claims, and at the same time, keep the church afloat so it can carry out its ordinary business. And then, a determination is made.”
The church’s website estimates it has about $250 million in assets.
The bankruptcy hearing on Tuesday settled a handful of housekeeping issues, mostly allowing the church to use some of its funds to pay employees, as well as, insurance and utility bills.
However, other details also came through. Church lawyers said they hoped to compensate victims in two years, but noted that was only an estimate.
It’s also likely that a survivors committee will be formed to help decide how much each victim will be compensated for their abuse.
The Baltimore Archdiocese declared bankruptcy on Sept. 29, just two days before the Child Victims Act was supposed to go into effect.
“Friday was a gut punch,” Lancaster said. “I had survivors calling me into the night hysterical asking what went wrong? What happened? The bankruptcy puts a halt to all the filings and that broke everybody's heart, really.”
The bankruptcy court has scheduled its next hearing regarding the church for Nov. 6.
