Archdiocese to assess, potentially add names to list of sexual abusers

A week after the Reporter revealed that a list of Seattle-area priests who had sexually abused children failed to include employees of the Archdiocese of Seattle who had been accused of the same crime, the organization said they will review the list and determine if more names need to be added.

A week after the Reporter revealed that a list of Seattle-area priests who had sexually abused children failed to include employees of the Archdiocese of Seattle who had been accused of the same crime, the organization said they will review the list and determine if more names need to be added.

“We will continue to review the list to determine if additional information or names should be included,” the archdiocese said in a statement. They also encouraged anyone with information about sexual abuse by a member of the clergy, employee or a volunteer to come forward.

The archdiocese had released the list with the aim of transparency, with spokesperson Greg Magnoni telling the Reporter that it is an ongoing effort.

The initial list released by the archdiocese included 77 priests from the Seattle and other archdioceses. Three of the people on the list worked in Kirkland. However, both community members and the Reporter identified alleged abusers who were not named on the list.

Also absent from the list was a former youth minister named Jim Funnell who allegedly molested a child in the mid-1980s for more than a year while serving at St. John Vianney Church in Kirkland. A lawsuit filed by the victim was settled out of court by the parish district in 2012.

For the last 13 years, the archdiocese has run background checks and conducts training programs for their 5,000 employees and more than 10,000 volunteers through their Safe Environment program, Magnoni said. He added that the programs and protocols are extensive and that full time staff monitors them and reviews their effectiveness.

An archdiocesan review board provides regular consultation to the archbishop of Seattle and will assist in any future additions to the list, according to Magnoni.

The former Archbishop of Seattle, Alex Brunett, had formed two review boards to assess the church’s response in 2003. The Case Review Board reviewed several cases of sexual assault and submitted a report that Brunett reportedly did not receive well. Shortly thereafter, both boards were disbanded.

The majority of the priests listed are now deceased. Those still alive were reportedly eventually defrocked by the church, sentenced to permanent prayer and penance or of unknown whereabouts.