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U.S. Supreme Court Rules Bridgeport Diocese Abuse Records Must Be Released

October 2009

Press Release

The U.S. Supreme Court refused today to block the release of documents generated by lawsuits brought by Tremont & Sheldon against priests in Connecticut for alleged sexual abuse. Tremont & Sheldon has consistently opposed the sealing of judicial documents dealing with the sexual abuse of minor from the public.

"This is a story of the betrayal and deception of children and their families by an individual in the ultimate position of trust. To understand the enormity, one must appreciate the fact that for the victims, their abuser was the closest thing to God", said Cindy Robinson, an attorney at Tremont & Sheldon, who along with Attorneys Jason Tremont and Douglas Mahoney, represented 24 victims in clergy abuse suits filed against the Diocese of Bridgeport back in 1993. At the time, these cases were some of the first cases of their kind in the country.

"It makes perfect sense that the public should have access to documents filed in a public court, especially when it involves the sexual molestation of children," said Jason Tremont.

To date Tremont & Sheldon has represented over one hundred (100) victims of childhood sexual abuse against area dioceses and religious institutions. In March of 2001, Tremont & Sheldon reached a confidential global settlement with the Diocese of Bridgeport and its predecessor bishop, Cardinal Edward Egan on behalf of twenty-four (24) individuals, most of whom had lawsuits pending for over eight (8) years. Then in October of 2003 Tremont & Sheldon reached a 21 million dollar global settlement with the Diocese of Bridgeport on behalf of forty (40) additional victims. In October 2005 Tremont & Sheldon reached a 22 million dollar global settlement with the Archdiocese of Hartford on the behalf of forty-three (43) individuals which Tremont & Sheldon represented fifteen (15) victims. “Our goals from the beginning have been and will continue to be justice for the victims and a change in the behavior of the Church” said Douglas Mahoney.

Tremont & Sheldon has settled additional childhood clergy abuse claims apart from these mediations. Presently, we are actively representing additional sex abuse victims against area Dioceses and other institutions including school systems.

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