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| Michigan Attorney General v. Vatican |
This, is so succulent a moment to me, I am in pure bliss.
What we have here is a delicious fantasy I have played out in so many fashions, but this one is spectacular.
The Michigan Attorney General has to investigate the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Yes, I have been transported back to a time when I decided to figure out why the Michigan Attorney General has allowed me to suffer for almost two decades when it comes to their nefarious operations in child welfare.
Yes, my dearies, I am the original source and I am about to push this as far as I can, because I have to prepare, you know.
I wonder if Dana has pulled my file, yet.
I have the largest file in the history of the State of Michigan Office of Attorney General, but hey, what do I know?
I know I have found fresh flesh for false claims of Medicaid fraud in child welfare.
I also know I was never afforded due process in a court of law.
Michigan AG: "If an investigator comes to your door and asks to speak with you, please ask to see their badge and not their rosary"
Beverly Tran: "If Child Protective Services comes to your door and asks to speak with you, please ask to see their warrant and not their badge because they are no law enforcement"
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel accused Catholic Church leaders of not fully cooperating with law enforcement, telling them to stop "self-policing" and allow state investigators to probe sexual abuse by clergy.
They are only doing what the State of Michigan does in child welfare. Dana is new. She will catch on, or maybe not.
Speaking Thursday at her first
news conference, Nessel said she will continue the investigations into Michigan's seven Catholic dioceses launched under her predecessor, former Attorney General Bill Schuette. Schuette conducted raids in October at dioceses in Michigan that involved 70 police officers and 14 assistant attorney generals, Nessel said.
But will she go into the foster care and adoption contracts? How about Faith Based Funding Slush Funds? Trafficking Tiny Humans?
Nessel told victims of abuse and others to speak with state investigators rather than Catholic officials, expressing concern that nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) are being used to discourage victims of abuse to speak with law enforcement authorities.
Where are all the attorneys looking to make a name for themselves? I find it quite odd these massive law firms in Detroit refuse to lift a single finger when it comes to trafficking tiny humans in Michigan. Well, not really. Some are too ignorant to wrap their brains around the subject matter, some just want a paycheck, some just do not care. Just ask the State Bar of Michigan.
"Stop self-policing" and let the state do its investigations, she said. "Our office is conducting a thorough investigation and it's important we be able to talk with any and all victims harmed by these egregious acts without the intervention of the church."
A thorough investigation entails the child welfare contracts, including the schools, residential institutions, child placing agencies and any faith based foster care situation because this sexual abuse is all funded by Medicaid.
"If an investigator comes to your door and asks to speak with you, please ask to see their badge and not their rosary," Nessel said. "And here's why that matters. Because many churches and diocese appear to be self policing and encouraging parishioners to report abuse to them so they can conduct their own internal investigations. We've heard many stories from victims who have been encouraged to take settlements and sign NDAs or nondisclosure agreements. And victims may believe that they cannot or should not report abuse to us because the church is going to handle it and simply put, that's just not true. Firstly, if you signed an NDA, you still have a right and I would say a responsibility to speak to law enforcement authorities. An NDA will not protect the church."
At least "The Boys" are being proactive. "The Boys" are part of that arm of the Vatican who just so happens to coordinate operations such as NDAs. Dana does not know this because she has no clue how deep this is going to get. She would if she read my blog because you know darn well she will never, ever reach out to me on dealing with anything remotely relevant to child welfare in Michigan.
Nessel was joined at the news conference by the head of Michigan State Police, Col. Joe Gasper, who echoed Nessel's remarks.
"I also want to echo your comments regarding the importance of reporting tips directly to law enforcement," Gasper said. "We take all leads seriously and it's critically important that we hear directly from you when you have information to provide."
Are you going to start taking seriously the screams of kids in the foster care system and directly report to law enforcement or shall we continue with that "hire a private attorney" response of your office when it comes to a private contractor in child welfare. The Archdiocese of Detroit, and the rest of the state, have those cherished, private child welfare contracts.
In response, the Archdiocese of Detroit issued a statement contesting some of Nessel's points, saying it wants to "clarify some of the broad generalizations made during today’s press conference."
The statement said: "The Archdiocese of Detroit does not self-police. We encourage all victims to report abuse directly to law enforcement. When we learn of an allegation of sexual abuse of minors, we immediately notify law enforcement authorities, in accordance with the agreements we have had in place with them since 2002..."
FUN FACT! I MAY HAVE BEEN A CATALYST IN THIS 2002 GRAND EPIPHANY OF "ENCOURAGING" REPORTING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT, WHICH IS STILL NOT A LAW, WHICH THEY STILL DO NOT REPORT
Ned McGrath, director of public affairs at the Archdiocese of Detroit, criticized Nessel's remarks about how investigators should have badges, not rosaries.
Yes, that was pretty pithy, but you have to give props where props are due. That was a smackdown.
“The rosary is a treasured devotion of the Catholic Church," McGrath told the Free Press. "And it’s troubling to have it used as a punch line. Here’s hoping future statements show no additional disrespect.”
There actually was no disrespect. A badge has legal authority. A rosary is a tool of privatization. Sorry, McGrath, your coup to completely take over the State of Michigan has yet to come to full fruition. "The Girls" are on it!
The Archdiocese also took issue with Nessel's remarks on NDAs:
"Since 2002, the Archdiocese of Detroit has not entered into any nondisclosure agreements, unless specifically requested by a survivor of abuse, as required by the Catholic Church in the United States.
In addition, the archdiocese does not enforce any nondisclosure agreements signed prior to 2002 ..."
Nessel's remarks happen to come on the same day that Pope Francis kicked off a four-day summit at the Vatican to discuss the issue of sexual abuse among clergy. Michigan has about 2 million Catholics.
Timing is everything. I wonder if Dana is going to cross over to the proper side of history and become a whistleblower? Time will tell.
Michigan is one of more than a dozen states that launched investigations after a report released last year by the Pennsylvania Attorney General showed extensive abuse by priests and cover-ups by Catholic leaders.
Nessel said they have received 300 tips so far and are reviewing hundreds of thousands of pages of documents.
What about the contracts?
Nessel compared the reaction of Catholic Church leaders to the reaction of leaders at Michigan State University to the sexual abuse of Larry Nassar.
"Oh, no she did not"!
"The clergy abuse investigation is jarringly similar to the MSU investigation in that both institutions when confronted with a public sex abuse scandal, publicly pledged their cooperation with law enforcement authorities, but it failed to deliver on those public promises," Nessel said. "And regrettably, it would seem as though these two powerful institutions care more about protecting their brand than the people they serve."
Hey Dana....if you look really closely, you will see the financial connections in the contracts. Let me give you a hint on where to start ===> The Michigan Children's Trust Fund. Can you say "DACA or DAPA"? I can. You can, too, if you do the right thing for the public trust of the children.
Nessel said victims should contact law enforcement even if the statute of limitations to prosecute has ended.
There still are civil options for obtain justice....that is if you have money because you know no one wants to look at the false claims filed for Medicaid cost reimbursement of those child welfare contracts.
No money, no justice.
"We may not be able to charge every priest, but our office will be sending letters to the diocese when we find credible allegations, and we ask that the diocese step up and deal with these abusers and protect people from them when the statute of limitations keeps us from being able to do that ourselves, which is often the case, or frankly, when there are other unethical acts that are uncovered," Nessel said.
If you cannot charge every priest, meaning there are many who will walk, can you at least take a look at the contracts? How about the child welfare NGOs?
The Archdiocese said in response that "the state of Michigan’s mandated reporting laws have been in place for decades. Through the years, we have strongly supported expansions to the list, including the addition of clergy. The Archdiocese of Detroit regularly educates all mandated reporters of their duties to report sexual abuse or neglect of minors."
Mandated reporters are a limited group of individuals, under the law. I do not feel like looking it up, but you can on the top right of the page, but clergy are not mandated reporters because the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is a private, foreign corporation, registered as a UCC in Michigan, which means that the State Attorney General is too much of a little punk to take this matter to the proper jurisdiction to the ICC because what has happened to the children in these christian child placing agencies is nothing but a war crime of forced migration and torture of a child.
Nessel said her office has sent letters to parishes asking them to inform their members of the state's investigations.
Step it up and go out to the private, contracted child placing agencies like Bethany Christian, Wellspring, Orchards Children's Services and Samaritas and hold a full blown interactive with the Administration and Boards to let them know they have been put on public notice. On second thought, if you do that, you will have to do the same with the all the other "non-faith based". Oh, well, it was just an idea.
She encouraged victims of abuse or those who may know about possible abuse to contact the state through
its hotline.
Can kids still in foster care report abuse? That would be grounds to terminate parental rights of the Michigan Children's Institute Superintendent for being abused and neglected while under the legal guardianship and custodianship of the State. Guess foster kids should just go back to praying they find a good pimp to rescue them from the aegis of the state.
The Archdiocese of Detroit said in its statement that when it "became aware of the Attorney General’s request for parishes to publicize the state’s tip line, we immediately offered to help our parishes facilitate the publication of that material."
Yup, the email was sent.
The Archdiocese of Detroit also said it "has not been asked by the Attorney General’s Office to stop its internal review process. These internal investigations are required under Church law, and their purpose is to restrict or remove from ministry anyone who has committed sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult."
The act of defrocking or removing one from ministry is an act of exile from the law of the sea for justice to be served from the laws of the land for bearing false witness to their office of the children's trust. Congress possesses a similar procedure of removing a member of the body from public office. It is called impeachment, nullification, indictments in other jurisdictions, you know, due process.
During her news conference, Nessel also spoke about her investigations into the Flint water crisis and Michigan State University over abuse tied to Larry Nassar.
Did Dana say Sparrow? I missed that.
Col. Gasper of Michigan State Police said "we are committed to seeking justice for all the victims in the cases and we were also equally committed to ensuring that we conduct a thorough and proper investigation."
In its statement Thursday, the Archdiocese of Detroit also said:
"Since the Attorney General’s investigation began, the Archdiocese of Detroit has not received notification from that office regarding credible accusations against any of our priests. Should we become aware of such a complaint, we will act immediately."
To read the full response from the Archdiocese of Detroit to the Michigan Attorney General's remarks, click
here.
Contact Niraj Warikoo:nwarikoo@freepress.com or on Twitter @nwarikoo
To report abuse
The information below is from the Michigan Attorney General on how to report abuse in the Catholic Church.
Call the investigation hotline at 844-324-3374 (8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday) or send information by email to aginvestigations@michigan.gov.
click here
for a form that the state says allows you to be anonymous in submitting tips.
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