Archdiocese won’t cooperate with Wisconsin sex abuse probe

By TODD RICHMOND
June 3, 2021

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Archdiocese of Milwaukee is refusing to turn over documents to state investigators who are looking into clergy sexual abuse in Wisconsin’s five Roman Catholic dioceses, warning Attorney General Josh Kaul that the records are sealed and that Kaul lacks the authority to initiate such an investigation.

Kaul, a Democrat, announced the investigation in April, following the lead of officials who have launched similar investigations in 22 other states. Kaul said he wanted to paint the fullest possible picture of sexual abuse that occurred within Wisconsin’s Catholic churches.

The archdiocese on Thursday released a letter its attorney, Frank LoCoco, sent to Kaul on Wednesday. LoCoco wrote that the archdiocese won’t comply with state Department of Justice’s requests for documents about abuse because the records were sealed as part of the archdiocese’s 2012 federal bankruptcy case.

LoCoco noted that for nearly 20 years, the archdiocese has been posting online the names of all clergy who faced substantiated abuse allegations and that the vast majority of the allegations date back to incidents in the 1960s and 1970s. Survivors have had years to file claims against the archdiocese and the archdiocese has implemented anti-abuse training for hundreds of employees and public safety is not at risk, he wrote.

LoCoco also argued that Kaul lacks the authority to launch such an investigation. ...

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