Diocese Of Bridgeport Launches Sexual Abuse Investigation

BRIDGEPORT, CT — The Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport has hired retired judge Robert Holzberg to lead the Clerical Sexual Abuse Accountability Investigation. Holzberg will analyze and review claims of clerical sexual abuse of minors, the Diocese's knowledge of alleged abuse and its response.

Holzberg will be granted unrestricted access to all diocesan files, records and archives dating back from 1953, said Brian Wallace, director of communications for the diocese. Caggiano announced plans for the investigation in September in response to the national clerical sexual abuse crisis.

The investigation is expected to be completed in spring 2019. Holzberg will oversee a team of attorneys and investigators. Results of the investigation will be presented in a public report along with recommendations to the bishop.

“Judge Holzberg epitomizes long-term, dedicated and conscientious service to the community,” Bishop Frank Caggiano said. “He possesses the highest integrity, and he has made substantial contributions to the administration of justice in Connecticut. We are grateful that he has agreed to lead this significant review.”

The most recent scandal in the Bridgeport diocese involved now-former Rev. Frank Gomez who resigned from the priesthood in August. He refused to undergo treatment at a facility after he was found to have violated diocesan rules about boundaries with children. The conduct wasn't sexual in nature.

Five lawsuits were recently filed by men claiming to have been abused as children by Diocese of Bridgeport priests in the 1970's and 1980's.

Holzberg retired from the bench in 2012 and is currently a partner at law firm Pullman & Comley LLC.

“I am committed to supervising a comprehensive, impartial and transparent investigation into clergy sexual abuse of minors and the Diocese’s response to that abuse over the past 65 years," Holzberg said in a statement. "As a condition of taking on this assignment, I met with and obtained the commitment of Bishop Caggiano that I will have full and unlimited access to all materials relevant to this investigation and that I will have full discretion to conduct this investigation as I deem appropriate."

Caggiano also said that a report will be released Oct. 31 that will detail the settlement amount for past claims of clergy sexual abuse of minors. It will also include where funds were obtained to settle claims and provide an account of financial support that is currently given to any priest who was accused of sexual abuse of a minor and is on administrative leave or has been laicized.

“I believe that the Church is facing a moment of crisis that demands honesty and repentance from the bishops and decisive action to ensure that these failures will never happen again,” Caggiano said.

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