California Clergy Sexual Abuse Attorneys for Justice

Achieving Justice and Compensation for Survivors

The Catholic Church's historical pattern of choosing to protect its own clergy and institutions instead of its parishioners is undeniable.

Year after year, new stories about old crimes are brought to light and reported by the media. Year after year, new survivors step forward and seek justice. Year after year after year, new scandals and cover-ups add to the mountain of evidence that shows the Catholic Church learns its lessons only slowly, if at all.

Sexual abuse by priests, nuns, and other church members and officials is especially damaging because of the impact it tends to have on the victim's spiritual foundations. Here, the hierarchical nature of the priest-parishioner relationship also makes it difficult for victims to even question whether the abuse is wrong, let alone come forward to denounce it. Many survivors simply choose to remain silent rather than disturb their own faith.

The real blame for the prevalence of sexual abuse within Catholic dioceses, churches, and schools lies with no one other than the church itself. Instead of dealing with suspected abuse directly, the church typically favors strategies such as moving clergy members from diocese to diocese, sending clergy members to church treatment facilities, or simply using its financial might to squash or quietly settle individual claims.

At the Joseph George Jr. Law Corporation, we have been dedicated to helping survivors of Catholic clergy sexual abuse since 1986. Our success is due in part to our experience and limited focus on these cases but also to the psychologist's education, training, and work history that attorney Dr. Joseph C. George brings to our practice. In many cases, in fact, his understanding of the psychological and emotional injuries related to childhood sexual abuse has been critical in maximizing the compensation our clients receive. You can rely on our California clergy sexual abuse attorneys to provide you with the caring and capable representation you deserve.

In a 2005 case involving 33 individual plaintiffs, attorney Dr. Joseph C. George obtained a $35 million settlement from the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento.