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Letter Found After Sexual Abuse Victim’s Suicide Points to Lasting Trauma

Weiser is pushing for a “full accounting of what happened” in Colorado and “how it was handled.” He says the report his office puts together will “name names.” Weiser emphasizes the investigation is not a criminal one. It will operate in cooperation with the dioceses in Colorado, which have agreed to turn over information about any complaints and the responses given by the Catholic Church. For its part, the Archdiocese of Denver says it doesn’t matter how long ago the abuse occurred. In a statement, the Archdiocese says it is committed to providing “transparency and some measure of justice and healing for any past victim.”

The report is scheduled to be released on October 1, 2019, and it will be made public. Weiser says the names of victims will not be made public, but the names of priests with credible claims of abuse against them will be included. The dioceses involved, those of Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, have agreed to pay compensation to past victims, and an independent arbitrator will determine who should be compensated and the amount of the compensation.

For instance, the Archdiocese of Denver has offered Smilanic to pay for a year of counseling from a licensed mental health professional of his choosing. The dioceses of Colorado are also paying half of the expected $300,000 fee for an eight-month review employing Troyer. (The other half of the fee is being paid by anonymous donors who will have no oversight of the review.)

The Archdiocese of Denver urges those who wish to report an incident or who suspect child abuse by anyone associated with the Catholic Church in Colorado to visit the attorney general’s site.