Update: Attorneys enter appearances on behalf of Diocese of New York, Matthew Heyd, and others in the St. Thomas litigation

For several months now, we have reported on the outrageous, abusive conduct of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, Bishop Matthew Heyd, St. Thomas Episcopal Church, and others involving a parishioner, who alleges he was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions, and faced retaliation when he informed parish and diocesan officials about the alleged assaults.

Today, we have received word that defense attorneys have entered an appearance in the case. We’ll discuss the implications further in a moment.

Dennis Perlberg of McManus, Ateshoglou, Aiello & Apostolakos PLLC, a well-regarded Wall Street litigation firm, is the defense counsel for the Diocese of New York and Bishop Matthew Heyd. Perlberg is a graduate of Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law and an experienced insurance defense attorney.

Andrew Saltz of Saltz Nalitbosky, a small insurance defense firm based in Malvern, PA, is the defense counsel for the Rev. Mark Schultz, Bill Davis, and Erich Erving. Saltz is a graduate of Georgetown and a founding member of the firm.

Our take

Our take: The appearance of these attorneys clearly demonstrates the Episcopal Church’s ethical bankruptcy.

How so?

The answer is simple: Heyd and his minions have had almost nine months to act with integrity and resolve these matters on their own. Yet the Diocese took no meaningful action in this matter until recently, with Mark Schultz only suspended after the lawsuit was filed.

Folks, we want to be 100 percent clear: It should not and must not take the filing of a lawsuit to make the Episcopal Church act with integrity.

Moreover, the Diocese has tried to use the Title IV process to obtain information on the plaintiff, Andrew W., that it hopes will discredit his claims.

Indeed, we have spoken with several people whom the Title IV investigator has interviewed, and multiple sources have complained that the investigator’s line of questioning was facially intended not to address Title IV but instead as a precursor to litigation. That is not a legitimate Title IV purpose, and we’re prepared to bet that the Diocese has violated confidentiality by sharing investigatory results with litigation counsel.

Assuming we are correct, the Diocese’s behavior is corruption, pure and simple.

Then we come to the issue of defending the indefensible. Not only have other individuals come forward with independent allegations very similar to those made by Andrew W., the plaintiff in this matter, but Mark Schultz, Erich Erving, and Bill Davis all have issues we have identified in our investigation that suggest that this situation is NOT a one-and-done matter.

Moreover, any jackass knows you don’t send around emails claiming that Andrew W. was previously arrested for making terroristic threats and more, unless you are damned sure that what you are saying is true. Thus, Matthew Heyd, who did exactly that, is at best incompetent and at worst evil. (We incline generally to believe the latter, with a thick dollop of incompetence layered on top.)

The same goes for St. Thomas, where someone allegedly contacted Andrew W.’s employer with these allegations. Sources within the parish tell us that they believe that someone is none other than rector Carl Turner, and we believe them. Moreover, Turner is known to have previously breached confidentiality in this matter, publicly identifying Andrew W., as the victim of alleged sexual assault.

To that we ask: On what planet is it okay to identify the alleged victim of sexual assault during an investigation of the allegations? If this is Turner’s definition of pastoral integrity, no thanks. He can keep it.

Moreover, despite this egregiously stupid and evil conduct, we are confident that litigation could have been avoided had the Diocese and St. Thomas’ promptly taken responsibility for their behavior, publicly retracted their fabrications, and made restitution for the damage they have caused. But there are few organizations out there that cling more tightly to their bad behavior than does the Episcopal Church.

Of course, now that the Diocese and St. Thomas’ have created a firestorm of corruption and duplicity, we see the Church Pension Group (CPG), which is the church’s captive insurance carrier, coming to their rescue. Armed with billions in investments, CPG will easily spend several times in legal fees what it would have cost to settle the matter long ago — despite the fact that both the Diocese and St. Thomas’ long ago brought discredit upon the entire denomination with their corrupt handling of allegations of sexual misconduct.

Still worse, all of this plays out in the context of multiple sordid reference points, including:

• Ongoing litigation involving previous claims of child sexual abuse at the St. Thomas Choir School.
• Additional persons coming forward independently with similar allegations of sexual abuse.
• St. Thomas barring other individuals from the property for opposing abuse.
• The abject stupidity of having resident pornographer Erich Erving living in a church-provided condominium unit amidst children from the choir school. To be clear, his religious-themed pornography is entirely inappropriate in that context.
• Various parishioners commenting on this publication, essentially saying they are cool with persons accused of sexual assault having ongoing access to children. What the actual hell?

In response to some of those comments, yes, we recognize that all persons are entitled to a presumption of innocence in civil proceedings. But part of our mission is to investigate situations such as this, and we believe the evidence supports Andrew W.’s claims. And it is indisputable that both the church and the Diocese have engaged in defamation per se.

And for the record, we have run background checks and independently investigated all of the key individuals in this matter, including the plaintiff. We stand by our reporting.

We also believe it is highly likely that at least one of the sexual assaults was captured on the church’s CCTV system, so the defendants are well-advised not to perjure themselves with their denials. We also advise defendants to be truthful during discovery about past criminal arrests and prior civil litigation involving allegations of sexual assault—and we will leave that line of discussion at that for now.

Don’t even try it

We also caution the defendants against trying to get a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA, as part of any settlement. Church canons restrict the use of such documents, and if we learn of any such effort, we will come after you with hammer and tongs. And while we are unlikely to hear about such a development from the plaintiff or his attorney, rest assured we will find out in record time.

What needs to happen

We also believe it is essential that the defendants be held accountable for their conduct in this matter. No, “Well, he said he was sorry,” or other empty nonsense.

What we need to see is Heyd, Turner, Moretz, Schultz, and Erving gone. Also:

• The Diocese and St. Thomas must issue a written retraction of their defamatory per se statements and make restitution for their misconduct.
• This BS with St. Thomas talking about how “safe church” is a priority, even as it retaliates against anyone who complains, needs to stop, effective immediately. We don’t appreciate churches that lie.
• St. Thomas’ needs to develop written policies regarding background checks and standards for those who live in church-provided housing. That means no more resident pornographers living amidst school-aged boys.
• St. Thomas’ needs to conduct background checks for all persons in positions of trust. That means no more unlicensed security guards who’ve sold heroin to high school kids working at the church. As in, there was zero excuse for Tristan Rodas to be working at the church.

Finally, a word to the inevitable attorneys: Insert the word “alleged” in front of every assertion in this post and spare us the cease-and-desist routine. Just know that we support the alleged victim 100 percent, and we will not tolerate efforts by the church or the Diocese to further traumatize the alleged victim in this case, shut down coverage of their corruption, or otherwise continue the fun and games.