Attorneys for the family of a young man who died from a drug overdose — the result of years of substance addiction after a Catholic priest allegedly raped him — are praising a recent court order for transparency in the case.
“It’s a new day in Philadelphia,” said Marci A. Hamilton, an attorney for the family of Sean P. McIlmail.
McIlmail allegedly was molested by the Rev. Robert L. Brennan between 1998-2001, when McIlmail was a student at Resurrection of Our Lord Catholic School in Rhawnhurst.
McIlmail died in 2013 at the age of 26 due to a drug overdose.
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office had previously charged Brennan with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and related offenses, but dropped the charges shortly after McIlmail’s death.
On Jan. 12, Common Pleas Judge Mark I. Bernstein denied a request by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for a broad protective order in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by McIlmail’s mother, Deborah.
She attributes her son’s drug addiction to Brennan’s alleged molestation, and she’s seeking more than $50,000 in damages.
In addition to the archdiocese, named defendants include Brennan and Msgr. William J. Lynn, who allegedly facilitated Brennan’s abuse of young boys.
Attorneys for the archdiocese sought a wide-ranging protective order in the case, ostensibly to preclude improper pre-trial publicity.
But attorneys for the McIlmail family argued the archdiocese has a pattern of trying to cover up sex abuse within its ranks.
“The Archdiocese has taken a hardball-tactics approach to the few cases in statute, and lobbied incessantly to make sure no other victim would be able to sue,” Hamilton told PGN. “The archdiocese demands secrecy and confidentiality because the public would be shocked by its treatment of victims in litigation. [Secrecy] is especially misplaced in this case, where the victim was a young man who passed away due to the stress of prosecuting Brennan — who the archdiocese knew was dangerous to children for 20 years before he sexually assaulted Sean.”
Attorneys for the archdiocese had no comment for this story.
Brennan, 77, has been stripped of his priestly duties and lives in Perryville, Md.
Lynn, 65, is serving a three- to six-year prison term for child endangerment. In December, the state Superior Court ordered a new trial for Lynn. But the D.A.’s Office is appealing that ruling, and Lynn remains behind bars.
In his one-page order, Bernstein said limited personal information such as Social-Security numbers can be redacted from materials filed with the court in the McIlmail case.
“Judge Bernstein’s order is good for survivors and good for public safety,” Hamilton continued. “The McIlmail family is dedicated to transparency and the truth.”
She said the discovery process had been stalled while both sides awaited Bernstein’s ruling.
“Information obtained during the discovery process will be a matter of public record, instead of being kept under seal and confidential,” she noted.
The McIlmail family is very pleased with the order, Hamilton added.
“The family is devastated by the loss of Sean. But they’re very happy that, with this ruling, the case doesn’t have to be litigated under a confidentiality agreement. That would be antithetical to everything they believe in.”
Thomas R. Kline, another attorney for the McIlmails, expressed hope the archdiocese won’t appeal Bernstein’s ruling.
“We do not believe that there is a basis for an appeal now,” Kline told PGN. “We urge the archdiocese to heed the words of Pope Francis and finally adopt a policy of transparency, which has been absent in the past.”
Kline said attorneys for the McIlmails will utilize all information received from the archdiocese in an appropriate manner.
“All documents in this litigation can and should and will be produced in the same fashion as any other civil case,” Kline added. “There is no basis for providing special privileges to any defendant in litigation, as the court’s ruling acknowledges. We intend to use the documents which are produced to prove our case.”