ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Survivors of childhood sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester continue to wait for a final settlement amid a legal battle with insurers. About 11,000 civil suits were filed under the 2019 Child Victims Act, which allowed survivors of childhood sexual assault to take their abusers to court for crimes that took place before they turned 18 — waiving the statute of limitations for a limited time. Of those claims, hundreds were against the Catholic Church. 

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester’s plan for settlement would have established a $127.3 million trust fund for claims, but insurance companies are refusing to contribute after the diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2019. 

At the beginning of this month, one of the major insurance companies involved in the settlement, Continental Insurance Company’s (CNA), had a case dismissed by the judge. They claimed the Diocese breached a contract when it dropped out of a 2022 settlement, and they should not be liable for paying the settlement. Last week, a judge dismissed that case, which CNA has filed an appeal. However, this back-and-forth has left the victim-survivors feeling left behind in all of the money-talk. Survivor Carol DuPré is finding a different way to remind people that her story should be heard.

“I’ve been wearing black every day for over three years now because of the court case,” DuPré explained, “I continue to wear the black because it's something I can control. I can't control the court case, but I can control what I put on me. I have a white outfit. One for summer, one for winter, waiting in my closet to be worn on the day when this is over. But in the meantime, since I can’t control the way the case is going, I’ll just continue to wear the black.”

DuPré says she was 15 when she was molested by a priest.

“I will never call a priest a father again because a father has an image to me of somebody who I don't like, and I don't like what he does, and I don't like how he's hurt me," DuPré said. "So it had a big effect on me as far as having a relationship with God and seeing God as God the Father, who is a good God."

The case has been ongoing for more than five years since the Child Victim’s Act was signed into law by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“The court system, the bankruptcy system, moves very, very slowly and awkwardly," attorney Mitchell Garabedian said. "And the bankruptcy system is used to dealing in business matters. You're dealing with widgets most of the time. But here we have human beings. And the rules of the court really do not favor a swift settlement."

Garabedian represents 97 victim-survivors in this case. He says cases like these can last longer, but are usually around two-and-a-half years long. Although, in this case, he says the delays have been strategic by both parties involved.

“There was a lawsuit by CNA insurance claiming that the diocese didn't live up to the terms of the insurance contract, and there was a trial over it," Garabedian said. "And the judge found that CNA's case was not sufficient. It was dismissed. And now it's being appealed by CNA insurance. So just another prime example of them trying to push off paying the settlement. This is just another prime example of the victims of survivors being caught in a morass of legal activity, which ultimately just re-victimized us, the victim, a survivor, who is just trying to gain validation, by coming forward. The insurance companies and the Catholic Church don't want to be responsible enough and own it. The Catholic Church has allowed hundreds of innocent children in the Diocese of Rochester to be sexually abused. And they cover it up. Cover it up. They didn't report it to the police. And so now the victim survivor has to hear this.”

“Sometimes I wish that they'd stop looking at us as adults and start understanding that we were children," DuPré said. "We were young."

She’s now one of eight survivors who serves on the Unsecured Creditors Committee. She’s the oldest, and the only female member. But she’s thankful she has the camaraderie of the committee and support of her attorney so that she doesn’t feel alone during this elongated process. However, throughout the extended period of time awaiting a settlement, she says one committee member has passed away, and she fears survivors will die before an agreement is made.

“My greatest concern right now, and darn it, we're going to see this thing through to the end, but I feel like, as people were getting lost, the survivor, the victim-survivors, are getting lost in the picture," she explained. "Because now, it seems to be, I’m going to use a phrase, ‘a money-making proposition’, where there's the lawyers and the dioceses. Everybody seems to be adding the moneys. And we’re well into multiple millions at this point. And here we are. We have nothing in our hand."

DuPré says she’s hoping for a true and fair settlement. For her, that means validation.

“It doesn't come out of money," DuPré said. "I think that the real healing comes out of the the recognition and the apology and, yeah, it's amazing how powerful something as simple sounding as that can be."

“Money represents validation," Garabedian said. "It represents a statement to the victim. A survivor did nothing wrong that the sexual abuse would not the victim of survivor's fault. And they have nothing to feel guilty over. So that's what you and I and our civil system. That's how a victim, a survivor, can validate his or her claim. And that's what is trying to obtain validation. They want a settlement. They want a fair settlement."

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester released a statement on the case:

“The Diocese of Rochester’s Chapter 11 case is still a matter before the United State Bankruptcy Court and is guided by the rules and procedures of the United States Bankruptcy Code. However, we continue to earnestly pray for a just resolution, especially to ease the pain and suffering of the survivors, who have endured this very painful ordeal now more than five years in court.”

One of the major insurance companies refusing to contribute to a settlement, CNA, has declined to comment.

“There needs to be a resolution," DuPré said. "There needs to be a reminder here that this is about kids who are hurt, kids who are destroyed, kids who were molested, kids who were raped [and] kids who are sodomized. You can use all those horrible words. But this is the reality of what this is about."

In a recent letter, two New York State lawmakers called on the Division of Financial Services to step in and ensure insurance companies are complying with the law.

DuPré says she hopes to move closer to her daughter when the settlement goes through.