The Diocese of Bridgeport has released more than 12,000 pages of documents containing information about sexual abuse complaints against several priests and how the church handled those complaints.
The almost 450 pages of depositions Cardinal Edward M. Egan show that he did not investigate aggressively some claims of abuse, he reassigned priests who he knew had allegations made against them and he minimized allegations made against several priests.
"Claims are one thing. One does not take every claim against a human being as a proved misdeed. I'm interested in proved misdeeds," he said.
Among the documents are letters about Rev. Lawrence Brett, whose sexual abuse of minors is a matter of widespread public record, according to the Diocese.
A letter the Archbishop of Santa Fe sent to the Most Rev. Walker W. Curtis, Bishop of Bridgeport in January 1966, is about whether Brett should work in Albuquerque schools.
Brett told the Archbishop of Santa Fe he wanted to work in a parish and went on to say:
“I do not think that Bishop Curtis would want me to teach, in view of all that has happened and I am certain that you will be apprised of all the facts by him. In regard to me own problems, I hope to continue to see Dr. Jacobson from time to time, in order to make even more secure process already made.”
In an affidavit, an altar boy reported that Rev. Joseph P. Moore, formerly of the Church of the Assumption, made sexual advances to him and assaulted another boy during a trip to Block Island in 1973. The man said he reported it to Msgr. Andrew Cusack, who said Moore had been evaluated and was not a homosexual, according to church documents.
In other documents, a former altar boy from St. John Nepomucene Church in Bridgeport, said Father Raymond Pcolka sexually abused him several times between 1971 and 1973. He said he wrote a letter reporting it to Bishop Curtis and Msgn. Cusak and never received a response.
The legal fight started eight years ago and went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Today, it could end with a judge-ordered deadline to release the documents. The judge set the deadline for today to give the diocese time to review the documents and flag ones those it considers privileged.
