Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
Press Release

Former Franciscan brother under current criminal investigation in Wisconsin for raping and physically assaulting African American children from Mississippi on trips to St. Francis and Appleton

Over the past nine months, church officials of the Franciscan Friars of the Assumption Province, headquartered in St. Francis, Wisconsin, have been actively soliciting secrecy agreements from African American victims of Paul West, 59, a former Franciscan, in exchange for financial settlements which are among the lowest in the United States.

By - Aug 27th, 2019 11:36 am

A lengthy Associated Press investigation published today about a former member of a Wisconsin based Catholic religious under who is under current criminal investigation for multiple acts of felony child sexual assault in Mississippi, Wisconsin and New York State is raising troubling questions as to the treatment of racial or economically disadvantaged survivors of clerical child sex offenders by Catholic church officials.

Over the past nine months, church officials of the Franciscan Friars of the Assumption Province, headquartered in St. Francis, Wisconsin, have been actively soliciting secrecy agreements from African American victims of Paul West, 59, a former Franciscan, in exchange for financial settlements which are among the lowest in the United States. The settlements were brokered by church officials of the Jackson, Mississippi diocese. The secrecy agreements are not only in direct violation of the US Bishops policy on abuse but appear to have been engineered to mislead these victims into believing that West could no longer be prosecuted. The criminal statute on West’s alleged offenses, however, are currently active in both Mississippi and Wisconsin.

Fortunately, because these courageous victims have come forward, West is finally being investigated in both states, including in Milwaukee and Outagamie Counties, where West allegedly transported children across state lines for the purposes of committing criminal sex acts, a federal crime that should also trigger and investigation by the US Department of Justice.

There are likely many more victims of West, who was the principal of a traditional black Catholic “mission” school in Mississippi. The allegations against him, which the order has confirmed as credible, include “beatings, rape, and other sexual violations” beginning when the victims were as young as 10.

The treatment of these particular survivors, according to the AP investigation, “differ from most victims with sex abuse claims against the church because they are black, desperately poor and, until recently, never had a lawyer to argue their case.” These brave survivors represent the most hidden and vulnerable population of victims in the church, which makes their plea for justice ethically urgent and their treatment by church officials morally shameful.

Survivors are grateful that West is being investigated and, given the severity of these alleged acts, believe that he needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Wisconsin and Mississippi church officials also need to be investigated for allowing this dangerous abuser to evade justice. And his victims must be compensated properly for the immense harm and damage done to them, which includes the discriminatory treatment they have had to endure that has significantly compounded that harm.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

Mentioned in This Press Release

People:

Recent Press Releases by Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

Norbertine Release of Credibly Accused Priest Sex Offenders Raises More Questions than Answers

The release from the Norbertines includes the names of 22 priests that church officials, including the current Abbot and several former Abbots of the religious order, knew had sexually assaulted children in the Green Bay diocese.

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

Waukesha judge orders Pewaukee priest to stand trial for felony child sex abuse

Fr. Charles Hanel was arrested in September for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl in the confessional.

State of Wisconsin Granted Professional Licenses to Four Priests with Histories of Abuse

All four have been identified by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee as priests with substantiated histories of sexual abuse or misconduct.

Leave a Reply

You must be an Urban Milwaukee member to leave a comment. Membership, which includes a host of perks, including an ad-free website, tickets to marquee events like Summerfest, the Wisconsin State Fair and the Florentine Opera, a better photo browser and access to members-only, behind-the-scenes tours, starts at $9/month. Learn more.

Join now and cancel anytime.

If you are an existing member, sign-in to leave a comment.

Have questions? Need to report an error? Contact Us