National spotlight back on church abuse allegations, gag order

As previously reported, attorneys for victims of alleged abuse from Catholic priests in the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese came under fire from defense counsel for allegedly violating a gag order.

Now, the New York Times brings more national attention to the controversy .

Attorneys for Fr. Michael Tierney, one of several officials of the Kansas City – St. Joseph Catholic Diocese involved in allegations of church misconduct and a history of sexual abuse, accused attorneys of abuse victims of violating a gag order and colluding with witnesses through a relationship with SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests).

Rebecca Randles, of Kansas City’s Randles, Mata & Brown, LLC was accused of violating the gag order.

Randles noted: “I certainly didn’t violate the gag order that is based on the ethics rules. And I did get an informal opinion from the Missouri bar ethics council indicating that it was acceptable to give an advance copy of the petition as long as my client had given me permission to do so.”

Wagstaff and Cartmell attorneys Brian Madden, Diane Watkins, and Adam Davis represent Tierney.

According to the New York Times: The church’s lawyers say they need to see SNAP’s records to investigate whether Ms. Randles violated a gag order by giving the group information about one of the Tierney cases before it was filed, which the group then included in a news release.

In the Kansas City case, SNAP refused to turn over all the subpoenaed documents or answer all the questions in the deposition. So attorneys for the church and the priests have filed a motion to compel SNAP to comply. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for April 20.

Read More:

From the New York Times: Church Puts Legal Pressure on Abuse Victims’ Group