BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG — A law firm which advocates on behalf of child sex abuse victims at the hands of Catholic clergy held a press conference Tuesday (April 6) announcing that at least 80 lawsuits are still underway against the Diocese of Ogdensburg involving 39 alleged perpetrators.

On Tuesday, Attorney Jeff Anderson of the law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates not only released the names of the alleged perpetrators, 38 of whom are clergy, but demanded that Bishop Terry LaValley release the names of all diocesan officials who are or were complicit in concealing child sexual abuse.

Anderson also called on LaValley to release the names of all known alleged perpetrators accused of child sexual abuse.

However, a spokeswoman for the Diocese said that the cases referenced were filed between the opening of the Child Victims Act a year ago in August and December of 2020.

“None of these are recent filings,” Darcy L. Fargo, Diocese communications director, told North Country This Week.

Fargo said that prior to the passage of the CVA, the diocese conducted an independent reconciliation and compensation program for two years and made options available to victims for counseling, reconciliation and compensation.

“In our diocese we had 39 victims participate, and all of them accepted the compensation offered. Many reported that the program brought them healing and peace,” Fargo said.

“As of now, the filed cases are moving through the legal process. We do not comment on pending litigation, including the status of cases,” Fargo said.

The press conference can be live streamed at https://www.andersonadvocates.com/virtual-press-event-today-over-1400-alleged-perpetrators-accused-of-child-sexual-abuse-in-new-york-catholic-dioceses-under-child-victims-act/.

The Ogdensburg diocese was one of many called out by the attorney.

A report on the law firms Ogdensburg allegations is available on its website at file:///Users/Nctw5/Downloads/JAA-Ogdensburg-CVA-Look-back_2021-04-06-1.pdf.

The top five alleged perpetrators named in the report are:

• John Fallon who faces 8 lawsuits for alleged abuse from 1975-1985

• Liam O’Doherty, 8 lawsuits for alleged abuse from 1965-1979

• Emile LaLonde, 6 lawsuits for alleged abuse from 1960-1970

• Edward Franklin, 4 lawsuits for alleged abuse from 1963-1970

• Albert Plante, 4 lawsuits for alleged abuse from 1970-1978.

Fargo told North Country this week that clergy with substantiated incidents of abuse are removed from ministry.

Others named in the law firm’s report include:

Barber, Gary

Brown, Floyd J.

Conti, Joseph

Coseo, F. Gordon

Delbel, James A.

Downs, John “Jack” L.

Elliott, Joseph W.

Favreau, Bruce T.

Fontaine, George A.

Francoeur, Joseph

Franklin, Edwin

Gaudette, Roland

Kearns, Frank M.

Kennedy, Edwin A.

Luker, Joseph F.

Manfred, Donald J.

Martin, Ronald

McGrath, Gerald F.

McNamara, John F.

Menard, Roland V.

Mulvaney, Andrew R.

Pendergast, John F.

Reding, Aquinas

Richard, Charles J.

Seguin, Donald E.

Shurtleff, Robert

Smyczynski, Gerard A.

Squires, Thomas

St. Pierre, Roland H.

Stone, Carl

Tobin, George W.

Waterhouse, John

White, Clark

Worczak, Paul