With two cases in Brown County and 100 statewide, Wisconsin clergy abuse review shows power of independent inquiry

Natalie Eilbert
Green Bay Press-Gazette
Attorney General Josh Kaul speaks Tuesday, April 27, 2021 at the state Capital in Madison as he announces the Wisconsin Department of Justice will lead a statewide review of reports of clergy abuse. In the background is the family of Nate Lindstrom, who killed himself at age 45. Lindstrom said that as a teen, he was abused by three priests at St. Norbert Abbey in De Pere.

Note: This story has been corrected to reflect the statute of limitations in childhood sexual assault cases.

Warning: The story contains explicit details of childhood sexual assault that may be disturbing to some. Discretion is advised.

GREEN BAY - Four months into an independent investigation launched by Wisconsin's top attorney, more than 100 reports have surfaced alleging abuse by faith leaders — and early results are creating optimism for prosecutors and survivor advocates.

“I’ve been encouraged by the number of people coming through to report abuses. We know the list of priests who have been credibly accused,” Attorney General Josh Kaul told the Green Bay Press-Gazette, adding that the reports from survivors present new potential cases apart from what was previously known. 

“It’s encouraging to see people coming forward," Kaul said.

Two cases were reported directly to the Brown County District Attorney's Office. One of those cases is "current," said Holli Fisher, program manager of the Sexual Assault Center of Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin, who was unable to disclose further details. The other one was from decades ago. 

Fisher said one of the cases already is being investigated by the Brown County DA's office. District Attorney David Lasee said both cases are potentially prosecutable in Brown County. 

In a visit last week to the Brown County Courthouse alongside Lasee and Fisher, Kaul spoke of the uniqueness of this statewide investigation into church leader abuse. He points to the dozens of complaints his office has received as proof the independent review is an effective alternative to traditional methods of reporting abuse.

Ashley Viste, chief of staff at the state Department of Justice, said the agency is not commenting on referrals to law enforcement for active investigations beyond what has already been revealed about Brown County. District attorneys from Douglas, Dane, La Crosse and Milwaukee counties — all of which are home bases for Catholic diocese officials who say they're conducting their own reviews of clergy abuse — could not be reached for interviews.

Notably, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee refuses to cooperate with the attorney general's Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse Initiative, characterizing it as anti-Catholic and a violation of the First Amendment. 

Brown County is home to both the Green Bay Catholic Diocese and the St. Norbert Abbey, an order of Catholic priests. It's unknown whether the two cases under review in the county are tied to either of those institutions or involved Catholic clergy.

It was an uphill battle just to establish the state's initiative. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, unsuccessfully pressed every other Wisconsin attorney general for years to launch a statewide investigation, including former AG Peggy Lautenschlager — Kaul's mother.

The absence of this initiative left survivors alone as both victims and witnesses to crimes, said Peter Isely, one of the founders of SNAP and the program director of Nate's Mission, an organization dedicated to the full recognition of church abuse survivors, based on the late Nate Lindstrom of Green Bay. 

"It's bad enough to be the victim," said Isley, who is himself a survivor of priest abuse. "But to have this sense of responsibility and duty adds an almost impossible burden."

But how exactly does reporting clergy and faith leader abuse work in Wisconsin?  

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How this differs from other methods of reporting clergy abuse

The investigation tool launched by Kaul provides two options of initial reporting for survivors of clergy and faith leader abuse who feel ready to report the crimes committed against them. Survivors can use the online reporting tool or call the toll-free number 1-877-222-2620. 

So why not report to your church or local police?

Prior to this, survivors had to rely on internal investigation tools provided by the religious institutions. These "safe environment" resources were — and continue to be — run by officers and investigators hired by the church.

"This is a game involving a hell of a lot of people," Isely said. "When there is something potentially damaging to you or your operation, you want to get the information first so you can, minimally, manage it."

Many survivors, including Isely, are skeptical of those internal investigations. "It makes you wonder why they wouldn't want the attorney general's office to know about them," he said.

In Isely's experience over the last couple of decades, law enforcement failed when it came to preventing alleged predators from transferring to other Wisconsin parishes and across state lines. Additionally, patterns of discriminatory practices have done irrevocable harm to vulnerable communities, he said. 

He recounted infamous Wisconsin cases of abusive priests in the state being "dumped" in African American churches, sent to Indigenous communities as far away as Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, and being linked to the molestation of over 200 deaf children, as in the cases of Franciscan Brother Paul West, the Rev. Kenneth Walleman and the Rev. Lawrence Murphy, respectively.

"There's a lot of mistrust of law enforcement in those communities," Isely said. "And our hope is that we're going to bring those people forward confidentially because this is a window and an opening that may never happen again."

Ultimately, Isely said, advocates for clergy abuse survivors want the Wisconsin attorney general's investigative report to examine not just cases of assault but a system that made justice so difficult for victims. 

"This report has to incorporate how this has been policed — or not policed, and how survivors have been treated by law enforcement officials when they came forward," Isely said. "What happened to those that did? Why were those cases not prosecuted?"

Kaul explained the multidisciplinary teams comprising victim services specialists, criminal investigators and criminal prosecutors who look into allegations of abuse reported to his office.

"Based on the information, we make an assessment of where to go next," Kaul said. 

Healing mistrust starts with confidential report

Fisher, the program manager of the Sexual Assault Center of Family Services, said its 10 staff advocates and 15 volunteer advocates offer 24/7 support to survivors that is free and completely confidential.

Since the DOJ took on the call of protecting survivors against clergy abuse, survivors have a series of options customizable to their needs.

"We'll do whatever the victim wants to do," Fisher said.

Trained advocates can help survivors determine whether what they experienced was in fact abusive and offer mental health counseling and provide relevant resources, regardless of whether they want to issue a report.

Should survivors decide, after speaking with a specialist, that they want to press charges, agents of Family Services will locate law enforcement within that person's jurisdiction, attend medical examinations, accompany them to law enforcement interviews, connect them to investigators, attend all court hearings (sometimes in the survivor's stead, should they have a scheduling conflict), and make sure survivors understand the events of a court hearing.

"If they choose to report it, we will be with them through the whole process," Fisher said. "We are here to support the victims."

Reporting cases of clergy and faith leader abuse comes at no financial cost to the survivor. Reporting, investigating and prosecuting criminal cases are handled by the district attorney. In such cases, the charges are brought by the state of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin statute of limitations 'is sadly like a game'

Shame and denial can overpower victims' desire to report cases of childhood sexual assault, especially when it occurs at the hands of trusted institutions like the church.

Fisher said that once a survivor reaches adult age, they may decide to remain silent because of shame or the belief that they did something to cause the abuse. Faith leaders may have manipulated them into thinking they wanted the assault to happen. 

More complicated, survivors and their family members may have otherwise good relationships with the abusive faith leader.

"They might have good memories they associate with them. It can be very confusing to have a positive experience of the person and a negative experience of the abuse," Fisher said.

But no matter the reason a survivor is stunned into silence, Fisher thinks getting the perpetrator's name into the world can be healing and powerful, even if a case is beyond the statute of limitations.

Alice Hodek, mother of a Green Bay sexual abuse victim, right, and Peter Isely of Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests called on the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay in 2019 to release additional names of known child sex offenders in the clergy. They also asked state Attorney General Josh Kaul to open an investigation of the diocese's handling of sexual assault allegations.

"It's good to put the perpetrator's name out there as a sort of validation or a different sense of justice for the victim. To be able to say 'Hey, this person did do this to me. They did victimize children,'" Fisher said.

For Kaul, the importance of reporting supersedes the statute of limitations. 

"Prosecution may not be possible, and that's why we have three reviewers," Kaul said. "One is to connect survivors to services. Regardless of whether a case is beyond the statute of limitations, when people report they can be in touch with services by DOJ and (crime victim) services."

What are the statutes of limitation in Wisconsin? The answer gets a bit hairy.

State law dictates that there is no statute of limitations on childhood sexual assault in cases of first-degree assault, although cases of childhood sexual assault prior to 1989 are barred by the statute of limitations. That's because there wasn't a children's code in general law before 1989, which means no criminal charges from assaults that happened before then are possible. 

When the victim is 12 years old or younger, it's considered first-degree. Cases involving victims ages 13 to 15 are considered second-degree, although if a child has endured or has been threatened with violence, that can elevate the crime to first-degree. To be within the window of the statute of limitations, prosecution for second-degree childhood sexual assault must commence by the time the survivor reaches 45 years old.

Both first- and second-degree assault cases involve sexual contact or intercourse with a child plus threat of force or violence if relevant, said Ryan Poe-Glavinski, clinical director at the University of Wisconsin law school.

"Because there's a criminal statute to see beyond a reasonable doubt, the question is can they prove it?" Poe-Glavinski said. "The statute of limitations is sadly like a game. Prosecutors will always try for first-degree. It's like giving your highest offer, knowing it's going to go down," she said.

Poe-Glavinski agrees with Kaul about the importance of reporting despite these road blocks, "because there might be other crimes that are possible to be charged and it's good for law enforcement and prosecutors to know that this has happened and to see if there are other victims that do meet the statute of limitations."

"It’s at least some measure of recognition of what happened to people. We want to do everything we can to stop this. More information means we can provide recommendations," Kaul said. "One of the things that allows people to come forward is that they want to make sure abuse doesn’t happen to others. The more information we have the more we can identify best practices."

Kaul said too that if the abuser publicly resided outside the state of Wisconsin for a period of time, the statute of limitations can be tolled or stopped, "meaning the clock is not running." Multidisciplinary teams can assess the factors and make that judgment, he said.

'We want to heal survivors as much as we can,' Kaul says

Isely is hopeful that real change can come from Kaul's independent review.

"He's careful, he's cautious, he's very deliberative and evidence-based," Isely said. "Many of us have waited so long for something like this and they want him to just bust down the door. I do, too. But I've been at this a long time and, I don't say this lightly, I'm optimistic that he is the way he is. He didn't make this decision overnight, I can guarantee you that."

In most of the counties they serve, Family Services uses the protocol SART (Sexual Assault Response Team), which dictates that any time a victim presents their case to police, law enforcement has to offer them a victim advocate, Fisher explained.

This is key for survivors who might feel overwhelmed by the process of reporting. That this hovers around religion affects how survivors reach out, but Fisher hopes that religious people learn from this independent review the complicated nature of reporting faith leaders to the authorities.

Photos of sexual abuse victims  were displayed in front of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral during a Jan. 18 press conference at which  Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests called on state Attorney General Josh Kaul to investigate the diocese's handling of allegations against its priests.

"Religion can be a resource for folks, or it can be traumatizing for folks. Some people get comfort from their spirituality and the community it provides. But if that's the place where someone was victimized, and members of that church side with the religious institution instead of the victims, it can be a place for real harm," Fisher said. 

"I would just encourage folks to think about, if this does happen within their religious institution, a victim-centered approach and think what this person might be going through."

If you or someone you know has been impacted by clergy and faith leader abuse in Wisconsin, you are encouraged to use the online reporting tool or else call the toll-free number 1-877-222-2620.

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Natalie Eilbert is a government watchdog reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at neilbert@gannett.com or view her Twitter profile at @natalie_eilbert.