Breakaway Catholic group orders staff, priests not to talk to KBI without attorney
A breakaway Catholic society under investigation by the state’s top law enforcement agency for allegations of priest sexual abuse and coverup is telling employees not to talk to authorities without involving the group’s attorney.
An official with the Society of St. Pius X sent an email to priests and staff members warning them that investigators from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation may be in St. Marys, Kansas, to conduct interviews.
“You are not required to speak to them just because they ask you to or make veiled threats against you or tell you that, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear,” said the email, signed by the Rev. Scott Gardner, the U.S. District Bursar at the society’s headquarters in Platte City.
“Further, you are always entitled to have legal representation at any interview, and all Priests, staff, and employees must insist on this if contacted. You will be provided with legal representation by SSPX.”
Critics, including some former SSPX adherents who have alleged that the society has covered up sexual abuse by its priests and employees, say the email appears to be an attempt to silence witnesses.
“It looks like they’re trying to hide things, trying to keep people from speaking and definitely stonewalling,” said Kyle White, who has alleged that in 2012 he and his then-fiance reported sexual abuse by her father to three SSPX priests and none took any action. In February, the father was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.
“This isn’t screaming transparency,” White said. “It’s exactly the opposite. They don’t want any more stuff like this getting out.”
In late April, the SSPX issued a statement saying it was “committed to full transparency regarding recent allegations involving its current and former clergy, religious and employees.”
Gardner said late Tuesday that the email was “sent to priests and employees and not to people attending our church or school in St. Marys or elsewhere.”
“It was certainly not an attempt to intimidate anyone or to discourage cooperation with the KBI,” he wrote in an email to The Star. “We are cooperating with the KBI ourselves by making any priest, employee, or agent of the Society of Saint Pius X anywhere in the country available to them without the need for a subpoena or other procedural delay.”
Gardner’s email, which SSPX employees received over the weekend, stressed that staff members are not required to speak with the agents.
“It has come to our attention that certain law enforcement officers may be in and around St. Marys, conducting interviews regarding an investigation of Priests, staff, and employees of St Marys and/or the District,” it said.
“In particular, KBI has already been warned that they are NOT to contact any Priest, staff, or employee without our legal staff being present. They have already ignored this warning, and it is likely that they will continue to do so until they are sanctioned by the courts.”
The email went on to “remind” employees of their constitutional rights regarding interviews conducted by law enforcement. If approached, the email told employees, they should decline to speak without an attorney present, email Gardner and call the SSPX legal counsel. It provided the name and phone number of a Kansas City-area attorney.
“If you have already spoken to law enforcement,” it said, “please let us know right away.”
The KBI announced in February 2019 that it was looking into reports of sexual abuse by clergy in the state’s four Roman Catholic dioceses. That investigation soon expanded to include the Society of St. Pius X, an international priestly society known for its traditional Latin Mass with a large branch in St. Marys in northeast Kansas.
KBI spokeswoman Melissa Underwood said the agency knew of no law or regulation that requires investigators to let attorneys know when they are conducting interviews.
“KBI is investigating allegations of criminal conduct made against the SSPX,” Underwood said in an email to The Star. “As such, our agents are permitted to question any individual who we believe may have information related to this criminal investigation. We encourage all individuals to come forward with information related to these sexual abuse allegations. We can be reached at 1-800-KS-CRIME, or by emailing: ClergyAbuse@kbi.ks.gov.”
Gardner told The Star that he had no indication that the KBI had been intimidating toward anyone involved in the investigation, “but our legal system is adversarial.”
“It is only common sense for the Society to protect itself and its priests and employees by having its attorney present at an interview with law enforcement,” he said. “I hope that anyone with evidence of abuse will go freely (to) the KBI or other appropriate authorities. There is no contradiction between this and trying to ensure that the constitutional and legal rights of our personnel are respected by providing legal representation.”
But Jassy Jacas, a St. Marys woman who said she went to the KBI after her multiple reports of inappropriate behavior by an SSPX priest she had gone to for counseling were covered up and ignored, called the recent email an attempt to influence the investigation.
“Not only are they trying to control what information is given to the investigation, they are also working against their promised open transparency,” Jacas said Monday in a post on her Facebook page. “If they were good men/priests they would want to work with the investigation openly to clean house.”
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 2:33 PM.
