October 2, 2024 Survivors of clergy sex abuse find it nearly impossible to crawl out from under their painful memories. For some, like Charles Richardson, the trauma stretches back to 1970s Baltimore, where he was abused by a trusted Catholic priest, Rev. Henry Zerhusen. It’s a story that spans religions and denominations.
A Damaging Report
Richardson was not the first to be abused within the Baltimore Archdiocese. A Maryland Attorney General’s report on sex abuse in and around Catholic churches in Baltimore documents more than 600 cases. Significantly, the report leaves out any context about race dynamics between victim and perpetrator. Richardson was an African-American child — Zerhusen, a white priest.
At least 19 of the 27 parishes in the Baltimore Archdiocese have populations that include a substantial number of individuals who are African-American. Of those 19 parishes, 70% have had priests on staff accused of sexual abuse, according to an Associated Press analysis. Institutional racism in law enforcement in the 1970s and lack of resources in the African-American community for therapy made it even more difficult for victims to come forward for help at that time.
Help for Sexual Assault Victims
Since the report’s release, Maryland has repealed its statute of limitations for reporting child sexual abuse allowing those victims to file civil lawsuits. Darrell Carter, now 63, is one of those who decided to sue. He told investigators how Baltimore priest Maurice Blackwell sexually abused him for four years and paid him $25 each time. He also described how Blackwell brandished a gun and threatened to kill him if he told anyone.
Another of Blackwell’s alleged victims confronted and shot the priest in 2002 after Blackwell refused to apologize. Blackwell survived the shooting and was later removed from the priesthood and convicted of three counts of child sexual abuse. He was granted a new trial because of “improper testimony about possible other victims,” according to the Attorney General’s report. Prosecutors ultimately declined to re-try him.
Angelique Webster was abused by Rev. Richard Deakin starting at age 13, which resulted in lasting trauma that required frequent psychiatric hospitalizations. Deakin pleaded guilty to second-degree rape and child sex abuse but received only a suspended sentence and probation. In 1993, Webster settled with the Baltimore Archdiocese for $2.7 million.
Sex Abuse Spans Religions, Denominations
A 288-page investigative report of abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) documents widespread allegations of sexual misconduct among named clergy and a cover-up that involves the highest levels of the denomination. Even the national president of the SBC, Johnny Hunt, has been accused of sexually assaulting congregation members.
A 2019 investigation for the Houston Chronicle by third-party Guidepost Solutions details two decades of cases in which pastors, deacons and staff of Southern Baptist churches abused hundreds of people, while for the most part remaining in their posts.
Abusers Protected by Loopholes
The Utah headquarters of the Church of Jesus of Latter-Day Saints is facing a similar reckoning. In February 2024, Utah lawmakers passed a measure meant to encourage clergy members to report sexual abuse when parishioners make an outcry during confession. The protections are similar to those of doctors, teachers or therapists who are required to report when they learn of abuse claims. However, many states have a loophole known as the clergy-penitent privilege that allows clergy to avoid testifying in court. An investigation by the Associated Press found that more than half of states grant such protections. As a result, some predators who admit their crimes to clergy but not to law enforcement remain free. The Catholic Church, the Latter-Day Saints, and Jehovah’s Witnesses have successfully lobbied state legislators to maintain the loophole.
Writes Religion News: “The AP investigation also found that the privilege is part of a risk management playbook that has helped the faith widely known as the Mormon church keep child sexual abuse cases secret. In addition to invoking the clergy privilege, the church also runs a sexual abuse reporting helpline that church leaders can use to divert abuse accusations away from law enforcement and instead to church attorneys who might bury the problem.”
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