Massachusetts State AG

Dear Attorney General Healey, 

After reading reports of the Pennsylvania grand jury, I can no longer trust that my children are safe in the State of Massachusetts. I am both outraged and disturbed by what they found.  

As a resident of the state of Massachusetts, I ask and implore you to conduct an independent investigation into probable sexual abuse of children and minors by clergy in the Catholic Church. Serious criminal acts were committed by Catholic clergy in Pennsylvania. We fear harm to hundreds or perhaps thousands of children in the state of Massachusetts have also occurred.  

The shocking Grand Jury Report demonstrates a cavalier disregard for children’s health and safety.  It is imperative that the investigation include the following three factors: 1) be independent and separate from the church, 2) employ subpoena authority, and 3) compel testimony under oath.

Our community relies on you and other organizations of law enforcement for the safety of our community.  Perpetrators of these crimes, and those responsible for covering up these crimes, need to be held accountable.  This initiative will protect future children from sexual assault in our great state.  We need to make the very strong statement that there will be criminal consequences for protecting an institution over the safety and well being of a child.  

Out of the 1000 victims in the state of Pennsylvania, only 2 will be able to seek justice do to PA SOL laws.  

Since there are no statues of limitations against felony sexual assault in Massachusetts, the victims in our state have an opportunity to finally seek justice.  The PA Grand Jury Report is replete with story after story of how the Church turned their back to their victims.  Please don’t do the same to the victims in Massachusetts.  These survivors deserve more from this great state.    

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,

Name

Address

 

MA state AG   https://www.mass.gov/orgs/office-of-attorney-general-maura-healey

State AG letter for 50 states

Showing 13 comments

  • Marc Dumoulin
    commented 2019-10-28 20:56:30 -0500
    It is a very long time ago that I did contact the MA AG and also a MA Senator. Response from the AG an investigation was made after the cleric scandal in Boston by AG O’Reilly. Yes they did an investigation which has no sense. The secretary of Cardinal Law at that time says that he did NOT know anything about the abuses. Did the same with the ME AG since I am also a resident of Maine and after sending 3 letters never receive an answer. Must say that the AG at that time was running for Governor.
  • Therese Budd
    commented 2019-05-05 14:28:40 -0500
    Phatmass a Catholic website is blocking me because I speak the truth
  • Melanie Sakoda
    followed this page 2019-04-28 15:20:08 -0500
  • Patricia Budd
    commented 2019-03-26 19:40:27 -0500
    Will be meeting with investigator by a DA on April 3 rd. Also meeting with bishop on the 8 th.
  • Linda Ewell
    commented 2019-02-25 04:05:08 -0600
    Please help those of us who continue to live with the memory and guilt of the experience. This cannot continue to be ignored. It needs to be dealt with as any other transgression would be handled according to the law. The Catholic church needs to be held accountable for this injustice.
  • Hadassah Chavivah Zeltzer
    commented 2019-02-07 05:51:10 -0600
    May the Holy One answer our prayers speedily and quickly May the Grand Jury remember whose children we are dealing with and speedily and quickly do the right thing or forever pay the price of their despicable actions!
    Even if there where only one child of clergy abuse from any faith in the year (5779) February 7th, 2019 is one too many #EvenOneisTooMany #Chavivah #JewishClergyAbuseSurivor #MalkaEstherOneDollarFund Tzedeck.com
  • Eucharistic Rosary Procession
    commented 2019-02-06 23:14:54 -0600
    Here is the testimony narrative.

    Time to testify

    Abuse of Sisters Minor of Mary Immaculate

    I was part of this order called sisters minor of Maria Immaculate under Madre Maria Elisabetta Patrizi and Sr Therese Kovacs they and other sisters were abusive and neglectful. I was refused medical attention forced by patrizi to leave the hospital. I was physically mentally spiritually almost sexually abuse I witness abuse and neglect of other sisters in the order which gave me no choice but to leave in 2003 She even helped cover up priest abuse with bishop Eagan and tolerated and allowed sexual assault of her sisters by other sisters and benefactors in the order Alcoholism was tolerated and patrizi would put unfit superiors into authority torturing sisters and breaking thier spirits, souls, bodies and minds down, so as to make them submissive to do evil things. severe punishments were given, like beating, starving and imprisonment. Medical attention or going against doctor wishes was perpetrated by Patrizi and Kovacs and other sisters that were superiors. There was no charity and most of us sisters lived in fear not of God but of Patrizi and Kovacs. For some reason or other the church allowed this for years because of her family name Patrizi which is tied to the Vatican. I have reported the abuse I suffered at the hands of Patrizi and Kovacs to my diocese so they know. They said they can not do nothing They knew since 2004. There was racism in the order where an African American sister would be called a black dog frequently by her superior. She left. Other sisters were stuck in countries because thier visas ran out and one particular sister was stuck in Italy.
    There was a death of an Italian sister who was imprisoned and not allowed to see her family she did not get medical attention and she had lung cancer. Another sister who was Polish was put in an institution against her will she called me for help. Another sister nearly died because she was bleeding internally she is American and if it was not for her doctor she would not be here today. October 4 2014 a document from the Vatican was addressing patrizi that the order she founded and other orders she started were abusive and she no longer allowed to find another order.

    How it affected me I have auto immune disorder and PTSD and anxiety can’t attend a mass with out physical complications or panic attacks

    Have I given up NO

    my relationship with God is even stronger and want to help others who suffered abuse by SMMI as well as those who suffered clergy abuse at which I became a potential victim it’s time to stop the silence and speak the truth and let the healing begin.
  • Hadassah Chavivah Zeltzer
    commented 2019-02-03 00:15:38 -0600
    Please do the right thing for both the young children who suffer from these crimes as well as the Adult Children that suffer all their lives with PTSD, complex trauma and suicide. The State of Ma. has a legal and ethical responsibility to protect the children of the State of Ma. and do whatever needs to be done to repair the damage that has been done. This is everyone responsibility.
    Tzedeck.om
    The Malka Esther One Dollar Fund
  • George and Jean Barilla
    commented 2019-02-02 20:25:25 -0600
    I was abused in NY but live in MA and sent the AG the SNAP letter with the following added:
    I know what it feels like to be abused sexually as a child. I have suffered all my life from the results of abuse by the Catholic Church whose clergy and nuns left me brain damaged with PTSD and visual and hearing issues. Don’t let more children suffer.
  • Robin Vachon
    commented 2019-01-12 08:49:35 -0600
    Dear Attorney General Healey,
    I am an adult survivor of abuse at the hands of a lay minister when I was a student, and he was a professor at Boston College and a full time employee of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston in 2001. Way before, “Me Too”. As an adult sexual abuse victim I had no voice, especially when it came to Title XI, and the justice system. The RCAB paid over $10,000.00 for treatment for the severe PTSD I suffered, and additional monies for the secondary PTSD treatment my husband received. Looking back now, I could have lost everything, not just my job, my education, and my children’s trust in me…I could have lost my marriage…even my life. These are the consequences my perpetrator threatened me with.

    Despite over 15 years of therapy, my PTSD turned into chronic anxiety and I developed two chronic pain conditions which require me to receive painful injections, physical therapy, and multiple medications. It was nearly impossible for me to parent my youngest children, who were 4 year old twins at the time. The youngest of whom would become prey to a pedophile neighbor two doors down from us a few years later. His PTSD developed into paranoid Schizophrenia, for which he has been hospitalized 2 dozen times since he turned 18 four years ago. (He is currently inpatient at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital). In my son’s case, he was the sole child witness, even though the police have tangible evidence his rapist abused both of his own sons prior to serving 7 years in prison. The justice system fails at one essential level, and that is in the aftercare for victims. This is a discussion I would be open to having at another time.

    The purpose of my letter today is not to ask for help for my family. Rather, it is a plea for you to join other states by conducting an independent investigation into probable sexual abuse of children and minors by clergy in the Catholic Church.

    Sincerely,

    Robin Vachon
    [email protected]
  • Hadassah Chavivah Zeltzer
    commented 2018-11-30 11:45:14 -0600
    Tzedeck.com and The Malka Esther One Dollar Fund supports and validates SNAP’s letter to the attorney General Maura-Healy’s office.
  • David O'Regan
    commented 2018-11-30 10:57:03 -0600
    Dear Attorney General Healey,
    I am the Boston-Worcester Survivors of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) leader. I suffered sexual abuses as a twelve year old by a Catholic Priest at Camp Elm Bank in Wellesley MA in the sixties.
    I did not realize the harm it inflicted on me, crippling issues that to this very day I have to deal with.
    I did what I couldn’t as a child as an adult reporting my abuser to the church. The Statute of Limitation had run out for me, and I was too traumatized by the memories of being raped flooding into my head with the Boston Globes Spotlight investigation in 2002 exposing the culpability of the leadership of the Catholic Church having the knowledge of criminal clerics sexually abusing children and protecting them with lies and coverups.
    I found it unbearably hard to even tell my wife after 30 years of marriage what I was going through. Never mind speaking an attorney.
    The church offered to help me when I disclosed my abuse to the Diocese of Boston back in 2004. What they offered was an insult to the harm, destroyed childhood, and deep depression I was now suffering from full-blown PTSD.
    The offered to pay my co-payments for medication and therapy. I developed asthma for the first time in my life due to the stress I was under. The co-payment for the inhaler was sixty dollars which I did not have having two kids in college, four others at home, and unable to work and put food on the table.
    I was told when I asked for help that they could not help me if they did they would have to pay every victim’s medical bills.
    When I was in the hours of my greatest need, the church took little responsibility only offered me crumbs. I felt they wished I would just go away or die.
    Today I am a victims advocate and lead a support group for survivors of abuse at the Newton-Wellesley Hospital for Boston-Worcester area survivors of clergy abuse. We are some of the lucky ones who have survived despite walking that fine line between taking our lives to end the horrific pain of the memories of not only what was done to us as children but the deep pain of betrayal of a Church that preaches the Gospels apparently as a business. Because they have deliberately chosen not to live it protectin sick criminals over children.
    Now with the Pennsylvania grand jury report, It is clear children are safe in the State of Massachusetts, and the church can’t be trusted. We all should be outraged and disturbed by what they found.
    As a resident of the state of Massachusetts, I ask and implore you to conduct an independent investigation into probable sexual abuse of children and minors by clergy in the Catholic Church. Dangerous criminal acts were committed by Catholic clergy in Pennsylvania. We fear harm to hundreds or perhaps thousands of children in the state of Massachusetts has also occurred.
    The shocking Grand Jury Report demonstrates a cavalier disregard for children’s health and safety. It is imperative that the investigation include the following three factors: 1) be independent and separate from the church, 2) employ subpoena authority, and 3) compel testimony under oath.
    Our community relies on you and other organizations of law enforcement for the safety of our community. Perpetrators of these crimes and those responsible for covering up these crimes need to be held accountable. This initiative will protect future children from sexual assault in our great state. We need to make the powerful statement that there will be criminal consequences for preserving an institution over the safety and well being of a child.
    Out of the 1000 victims in the state of Pennsylvania, only two will be able to seek justice do to PA SOL laws.
    Since there are no statutes of limitations against felony sexual assault in Massachusetts, the victims in our state have an opportunity to seek justice finally. The PA Grand Jury Report is replete with story after story of how the Church turned their back to their victims. Please don’t do the same to the victims in Massachusetts. These survivors deserve more from this great state.
    Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
    Sincerely,
    David O’Regan
    Boston-Worcester SNAP Leader
    [email protected]
    413-774-8364
  • Hadassah Chavivah Zeltzer
    commented 2018-10-11 16:30:43 -0500
    5779

    @TzedeckOffical and The Malka Esther Fund (which will be the first fund to support clergy abuse survivors from all faiths with financial resources to rebuild their lives) supports the motion to conduct an independent investigation into probable sexual abuse of Children and minors by the Catholic Church and all Jewish Communities. #Evenone, #EvenOneisTooMany! https://www.tzedeckofficial.com/the-Malka-Esther-one-dollar-fund.html
    Tzedeck.com

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