Fee for inquiry into false claims sent to Diocese

The Albany Diocese will use a portion of its self-insurance fund to pay the cost of the independent investigation by former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White. The inquiry found that false allegations of sexual misconduct had been made against Bishop Howard J. Hubbard.

The final bill is $2,231,910.81. That total includes an earlier bill in the amount of $180,218.46, which was paid on June 3.

The Diocesan Sexual Misconduct Review Board, which commissioned the independent investigation, received the bill from Ms. White's law firm on August 4. Fulfilling its promise to make the final cost public, the Diocese released the total to the media the next day.

Victims to be helped

In a cover letter with the bill, Ms. White promised "to make a substantial contribution to an appropriate organization or fund that provides direct assistance to victims of clergy sexual abuse."

Furthermore, she wrote, "the investigative firm with which we worked has agreed to donate computer support or services to the selected organization or fund."

They decided to make such donations, she said, because "during the course of our investigation, we were all deeply moved by the pain and needs of the victims of clergy abuse."

Costs driven up

Ms. White also noted that "regrettably, the cost of doing the investigation was increased significantly by the failure of certain primary sources of information to cooperate. We were accordingly required to expand the scope of our work in order to do a complete and thorough job. We made every effort, however, to do all of our work efficiently and in a cost-effective manner."

At a nearly two-hour press conference on June 24, Ms. White, a former U.S. attorney who is now in private practice in Manhattan, repeatedly said there is "no credible evidence" as she went through the list of allegations that had been made against the Bishop.

The investigation, which began in February, included interviews with approximately 300 witnesses, a review of more than 20,000 pages of documents, and nine polygraph examinations conducted by the former chief of the FBI's Polygraph Unit.

Ms. White also said that Bishop Hubbard voluntarily took a polygraph "and was found to be truthful in his denial of all" the allegations against him.

Background

In February, John Aretakis, a New York City attorney who lives in the Albany Diocese, arranged news conferences at which he and his clients publicly accused the Bishop of sexual misconduct in the 1970s.

The Bishop vehemently denied all of the claims and said he had never engaged in sexual activity with anyone of any gender or any age at any time.

The Bishop also said he would not investigate himself and called for an independent investigation of the allegations. The Diocese first requested that the Albany County district attorney look into the claims, but the DA declined since they were beyond the statute of limitations.

Review Board acts

The Diocesan Review Board, the panel charged with investigating claims of sexual misconduct against priests of the Albany Diocese, sought an independent investigator of impeccable integrity and retained Ms. White to conduct the inquiry.

Although Ms. White seemed to meet all of Mr. Aretakis's conditions for his and his clients' cooperation in the inquiry, he refused to take part himself or to allow his clients to participate.

Ms. White summed up her report by stating: "We are extremely confident in our conclusion that there is no credible evidence to substantiate any of the allegations of sexual misconduct or activity made against Bishop Hubbard."

Insurance fund

The Diocese will pay the bill from reserves in its self-insurance fund. No money from the Bishop's Appeal, the Capital Campaign or any other diocesan program or service will be used.

The Diocese also noted that the cost of the investigation "will not compromise the financial resources that the Diocese will make available to assist legitimate victims of clergy sexual abuse."

"It is unfortunate that an investigation was made necessary by the public airing of false claims," said Ken Goldfarb, diocesan spokesman. "It is even more distressing that, as Ms. White reported, the investigation took longer and cost more because the individuals who made and publicized the false claims refused to be interviewed by investigators."

(8/12/04)