The Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis and the Legal Responses

By: James T. O'Reilly, Margaret S.P. Chalmers

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Hardcover | 7 October 2014

At a Glance

Hardcover
472 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.39 x 15.6 x 2.54

Hardcover

$156.88

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The sexual abuse of children and teens by rogue priests in the U.S. Catholic Church is a heinous crime, and those who pray for a religious community as its ministers, priests and rabbis should never tolerate those who prey on that community. The legal disputes of recent years have produced many scandalous headlines and fuelled public discussion about the sexual abuse crisis within the clergy, a crisis that has cost the U.S. Catholic Church over $3 billion.

In The Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis and the Legal Responses, two eminent experts, James O'Reilly and Margaret Chalmers, draw on the lessons of recent years to discern the interplay between civil damages law and global church-based canon law. In some countries civil and canon law, although autonomous systems of law, both form part of the church's legal duties. In the United States, freedom of religion issues have complicated how the state adjudicates both cases of abuse and who can be held responsible for clerical oversight. This book examines questions of civil and criminal liability, issues of respondeat superior and oversight, issues with statutes of limitations and dealing with allegations that occurred decades ago, and how the Church's internal judicial processes interact or clash with the civil pursuit of these cases.

Industry Reviews

"The Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis is a comprehensive handbook for anyone contemplating action against the church or for those wanting to understand the complexities of the civil and canon law. The steps in criminal prosecution and civil litigation are carefully spelled out." -Frank Brennan, S.J, American Magazine "The book is as much a textbook for those in the legal profession, law enforcement and in the Catholic Church, who might have to deal with clergy sex abuse cases, as it is a work for Catholics, including clergy child sex abuse victims, and others, trying to understand the multiple facets of the legal side of clergy child sex abuse cases." -Carolyn M. Warner, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books "The heart of the book reads like a primer for someone stepping into the litigation...the book is overall a thoughtful and thorough legal analysis-both secular and religious-about the crisis and its profound effect on the survivors and the Catholic Church in the short and long term." -Jerome F. O'Neill, Trial magazine

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