The Episcopal Diocese of New York appears to have a dual standard regarding confidentiality in the midst of the Title IV cases against various clergy at St. Thomas Fifth Avenue involving sexual assault and related misconduct, including an attempt at cover-up. That includes contacting the victim’s employer with defamatory comments intended to interfere with his contract of employment and other egregious and defamatory violations of confidentiality.
Indeed, soon after the complainant in the sexual assault clergy disciplinary case contacted the Diocese about the situation, the Diocese and +Matthew Heyd did two things in retaliation:
- They sent the victim’s name and photograph to every church in the Diocese, and included the fabrication that the victim was a safety threat to churches in the Diocese who had violently assaulted an elderly church employee. That is false; the church employee, who now faces criminal charges, sexually assaulted the victim.
- They contacted the victim’s employer with their defamatory per se allegations in an attempt to interfere with his contract of employment.
Further, St. Thomas rector Canon Carl Turner recently disclosed the name of the victim to congregants. As we have stated previously, we were under the impression that anyone with half the common sense God gave a goat knows you don’t disclose the name of the victim of sexual assault. Not to mention that this is a per se violation of confidentiality.
Still worse, when Intake Officer Alison Quin was contacted about it, she appears to have told the victim that she would “remind” Turner of his obligation to maintain confidentiality, even as she made excuses for his conduct based on this publication’s coverage of the story.
Clueless much, Alison? We hate to spring in on folks, but disclosing the identity of the victim of sexual assault is an egregious violation, both of Title IV and personal integrity. And there are no excuses, no exceptions, no explanations that change that.
And we do just fine identifying and developing our own sources, thank you.
Additionally, we’ve uncovered further evidence of malice on the Diocese’s part:
It recently tried, unsuccessfully, to obtain confidential employment records from one of the victim’s previous employers.
To that we ask, “How is that relevant?”
Does the Diocese think it’s okay, for example, to try to access a rape victim’s sexual history in order to blame him or her?
To be clear: The current Title IV “investigation” is NOT really a Title IV investigation. It’s an investigation in anticipation of litigation, which means it’s not confidential, no matter what labels the Diocese tries to slap on it to conceal its real intentions. And if it were a real Title IV investigation, it probably would start by — um, let’s take a wild guess here — interviewing the victim. Or the various complainants, including this organization. Needless to say, that hasn’t happened.
We’re also 99 percent sure that the “investigation” is being paid for by the Church Pension Group (CPG), the church’s captive insurance carrier. Assuming we’re correct, that further supports the conclusion that the “investigation” has nothing to do with Title IV, since CPG is in no way involved with Title IV cases.
In short, it is increasingly obvious to us that the Diocese is attempting to misuse the Title IV process for improper and malicious purposes. Put in other terms, the whole thing has become a stem-to-stern fuster cluck, and it is 100 percent of the Diocese’s making.
In closing, there is a serious need for the sake of all involved — and this includes the Diocese and St. Thomas’ — for the Diocese to bring in an outside, independent attorney to handle the case, as well as an independent bishop. Our druthers would be to have Ian Douglas, retired bishop of CT, take over the matter, as he’s fair, decent, honest, and actually knows Title IV.
Relatedly, and we don’t know of any kind way to put it, so here goes: Alison Quin clearly is in over her head in this matter. There’s a pressing need to replace her with an intake officer who follows Title IV to the letter.
Not does what sounds good.
Not follows what she thinks Title IV says.
The intake office in this case (and all Title IV cases). Must. Follow. Title IV. To. The. Letter.
In the meantime, would someone please get rid of the Rev. Mark Schultz, aka the “Groping Guru,” and his husband, Resident Pornographer Erich Erving? Both live on campus, in close proximity to Choir School kids. (And for the record, Erving also allegedly sexually assaulted the victim.)
We’re really tired of the misconduct, both at St. Thomas’ and the Diocese, and the abject stupidity of both organizations.
There’s no other way to put it.
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