Alabama bishop dismissed clergy abuse claim later found credible in Michigan, report finds

The Roman Catholic bishop of Birmingham, Alabama, dismissed allegations of child sexual abuse against a priest that were later deemed credible and settled out of court by church officials, according to a new prosecutors’ report that scrutinized his work during a prior role in Michigan.

The actions of now Birmingham bishop Steven J Raica are detailed in a report published by the office of the Michigan state attorney general, Dana Nessel, after an investigation into the diocese of Lansing, Michigan.

As the Alabama news outlet AL.com first reported on Saturday, Raica served as a priest in the Lansing diocese for nearly four decades until he became the bishop of Gaylord, Michigan, in 2014, and later that of Birmingham in 2020. His work in Lansing at one point involved managing the diocese’s records and researching information that could substantiate allegations of abuse, a church spokesperson told AL.com.

In that capacity, Raica received reports of at least 17 Lansing priests molesting people, mostly children, the investigation by Nessel’s office found.

Nessel’s office documented Raica’s receipt and investigation of the reports. In one case, in 2010, he handled a report that the late priest John Slowey had molested a child at a Lansing orphanage between 1954 and 1955. Raica and another clergyman determined that there was not enough evidence supporting the allegation and classified it as unsubstantiated, Nessel’s office asserted.

But the church later reversed itself, with Nessel’s report saying: “The … allegation was found to be credible and was settled.”

Raica’s handling of the claim against Slowey is not the only one scrutinized by Nessel’s office and AL.com, as the outlet noted. He also stood up for a priest with past criminal convictions and multiple claims involving sexual misconduct who was later removed from ministry for sexually abusing a young adult man.

A 2010 letter from Raica cited in Nessel’s report said there “has never been any further episode of indiscretions” by the clergyman, Robert Gerl, and that the Lansing church fostered “no reservations” about his remaining in ministry.

Eight years later, the church investigated a report that Gerl had sexually assaulted an 18-year-old male in 1980. The accuser said he had reported the abuse to the Lansing diocese in 2004 and that the church responded with “gross negligence”. Ultimately, the Lansing diocese removed Gerl from ministry in 2018.

That same year, a Pennsylvania grand jury report established Catholic clergy abuse in that state was far more widespread than initially believed, reigniting the US church’s long-simmering clerical molestation and cover-up scandal. It prompted the Catholic church in the US to generally recommit to living up to earlier promises of transparency about – and zero tolerance for – clergy abuse, which many officials acknowledged their institutions had failed to do.

Related: Clergy abuse survivors say there’s still ‘long ways to go’ after sentencing of New Orleans priest

Dozens of US Catholic dioceses have filed for federal bankruptcy protection amid the clergy abuse scandal. Some cases of that kind have recently settled for about $600,000 per abuse claim.

A Birmingham diocese spokesperson, Donald Carson, could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday. But Carson told AL.com in an email: “It is not unusual that, over time, additional information could be brought forth that would change initial findings.”

Nessel took office in early 2019 and has promised to publish reports for all seven Catholic dioceses of Michigan. Reports for the diocese of Marquette, Gaylord and Kalamazoo have already been released.

The Lansing report chronicled claims against 48 priests, three religious brothers, one apparent former religious brother and four deacons who were suspected of engaging in sexually abusive behavior in the diocese since 1950. Nessel’s office said it had filed charges in 11 Catholic clergy abuse cases in Michigan during its statewide investigation, with nine leading to convictions.

Two of those cases centered on priests in the diocese of Lansing – and one involved an apparent former religious brother, the Detroit News reported. Raica’s name appears in the 347-page Lansing report about 170 times, as also mentioned by AL.com.

A report on the archdiocese of Detroit is among the three that are pending from Nessel’s office’s investigation into Michigan’s Catholic dioceses. The reports are expected to be completed by 2026.

The Birmingham diocese headed by Raica is based out in Alabama’s largest metropolitan area, with about 1.1 million total residents.