Community Corner
Priest Suspected of Child Abuse Worked in Fox Point: Church Records
Franklyn Becker was temporary associate pastor at St. Eugene Parish in 1980. Becker was one of the priests who later received questionable payments from the archdiocese.
A priest whose name appears on a list of priests removed or restricted from ministry because of substianted allegations of sexual abuse of minors worked in Fox Point in 1980, according to records released Monday.
The release, partly motivated by the archdiocese's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, includes about 6,000 pages of documents — from personnel files of priests accused of sexual abuse to depositions of high-ranking archdiocese officials, including former archbishop Timothy Dolan.
Among the names listed is Franklyn Becker, who was temporary associate pastor at St. Eugene Parish in 1980. Becker was one of the priests who later received payments from the archdiocese — payments that are now being called into question in the bankruptcy case.
The documents were selected by the abuse survivor attorneys, archdiocese chief of staff Jerry Topczewski told Patch. Though the records were released as part of a bankruptcy agreement, Topczewski stressed that releasing the files can be part of the healing process for abuse survivors.
"Ultimately, we want them to know that the church loves them," Topczewski said. "And the church owes them a debt of gratitude for having the courage to come forward."
But according to press releases from SNAP Wisconsin, the local arm of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, the documents have some major implications for the archdiocese.
In one press release, SNAP Wisconsin Director John Pilmaier suggests that archdiocese officials were involved in a “criminal conspiracy” with the practice of re-assigning known offenders to churches and schools after they underwent treatment for pedophilia.
According to the press release, a group of experts with the American Psychological Association compared the practice to “giving an alcoholic a job in a bar.”
Here is what the records have to say about the priest assigned to a local church:
Franklyn Becker
Becker was temporary associate pastor at St. Eugene Parish in Fox Point during the latter half of 1980. Though there were no allegations of abuse from his time at St. Eugene's, it was discovered that Becker was still associating with a boy from the parish in 1983, against the wishes of the boy's mother.In 1982, Becker was chaplain on a Caribbean cruise, and he brought a seventh grade boy along — with his mother's permission. According to the records, Becker later said that he had "no physical contact with the boy," though "they shared the same bed."
Becker's timeline is an extensive, 17-page account of the sexual abuse allegations against him. He worked at several other parishes until he was restricted from all public ministry in 2002.
No charges have been pressed against Becker.
Allegations Treated Differently Now
According to Topczewski, "no priest today can serve in ministry if there's a substantiated allegation of sex abuse."He told Patch that allegations are immediately reported to the police. If the district attorney determines that an allegation cannot be prosecuted, he said the church conducts its own investigation, headed by an independent review board and often facilitated by retired Milwaukee police detectives.
The complete documents can be viewed at the Jeff Anderson & Associates website.
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