Chancery worker begins new fight as abuse advocate

Bronislaus B. Kush

WORCESTER - There were times that Frances J. Nugent had no choice but to remove an abused or neglected child from his or her home in the dead of night.

Unfortunately, because of the lateness of the hour, there was no place to take the youngster.

In those instances, Mrs. Nugent, who's spent 50 years with state or social service agencies fighting to protect children from harm, would temporarily shelter the child in her own home.

"It's always been my job to look out for these kids, no matter what," Mrs. Nugent said.

Now, at 71, she's taken on another fight.

As co-director of the Office of Healing and Prevention, Mrs. Nugent is likely to be the first person at the Diocese of Worcester's chancery building on Elm Street that a victim of clergy abuse will meet.

She's charged with advocating for those who have been emotionally crippled by predator priests.

"I'm here to help in any way I can," said Mrs. Nugent, who also serves as the office's victim-services coordinator.

The Office of Healing and Prevention opened in the spring of 2002 and was a response by the local diocese to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' call to root out abusive priests and to better safeguard children.

It is currently offering services to 24 victims, some living out of the state.

The office has provided medical and counseling assistance, transportation, tuition help, and even food and shelter to victims.

"Through the Office of Healing and Prevention, we're trying to reach out to those who have been abused," said spokesman Raymond L. Delisle.

Some victims, however, have expressed reservations about the office.

"I would never recommend that a victim turn to the Office of Healing and Prevention, unless there was no other choice," said David A. Lewcon, who was abused as a teenager by the Rev. Thomas Teczar, a priest assigned at the time to St. Mary's Church in Uxbridge.

Mr. Lewcon said that, because of trust issues, a victim would be better off seeking help at a local rape crisis intervention center or a similar organization.

"The church betrayed them once," he said. "Why would the victim then go back and trust their care to the enemy?"

It's unclear how many individuals have been victimized by abusive priests locally over the years.

For example, BishopAccount-ability.org, an independent watchdog group, cites 42 allegations of misconduct. Experts, however, believe there are many more because victims are hesitant to come forward with complaints.

Although there are fewer headlines since the clergy-abuse scandal exploded five years ago in the Archdiocese of Boston, charges of misconduct are still being made.

According to a report filed with the Diocesan Review Committee, the Office of Healing and Prevention fielded seven complaints from July 2005 to May 2006.

Local officials, however, said those allegations were made against priests who had already been implicated in other cases or are now deceased. Three of the individuals were also following up on complaints made before 2002.

Mrs. Nugent said her main responsibilities lie with aiding victims.

She takes the complaints and, in some cases, meets with the victim and his or her family. On occasion, she is in contact with the alleged abuser.

It's Mrs. Nugent's job to write a report to the Diocesan Review Committee, which is made up of about a dozen clergy, doctors, social workers and others.

That panel recommends to the bishop whether an accused priest should be removed from active ministry.

If a priest is suspended, Mrs. Nugent goes with the bishop when he explains his decision to the affected parishioners.

During the visit, she is available for counseling.

Mrs. Nugent, who runs the office with Sister Paula Kelleher, also works with the therapists aiding victims. The diocese pays for treatment if the victim has no money.

She also sits in when the bishop meets individually with a victim.

"Some of them want to meet with him and some of them don't," Mrs. Nugent said.

Mr. Lewcon said some victims wish to remain in the Catholic community but many others are better off seeking help elsewhere.

He added that many victims, despite the assertion of diocesan officials, have never been approached by the church.

"Boatloads of victims have never been contacted, including myself," he said. "I still look out the window every day waiting for that letter from the bishop."

Mr. Lewcon also warned victims to be wary of any records taken by therapists or counselors, because those documents may be subpoenaed and used in court.

He said the therapy records of another person were erroneously introduced into court testimony by church lawyers in his 2002 civil suit against Rev. Teczar.

"The lawyer said that I smoked a joint every day since I was 17, but my records had been mixed up with somebody else's," Mr. Lewcon said. "It's a good idea for a victim to routinely inspect the notes that are being written up by a therapist."

A jury found that Rev. Teczar had abused Mr. Lewcon and caused him harm but declined to award him any money.

Besides dealing with victims, the Office of Healing and Prevention is charged with running background checks on people employed by the diocese.

In its first two years, the office made 17,000 checks, primarily through the state's Criminal History Systems Board and the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry.

The office is also responsible for training diocesan employees on how to recognize, handle and report sex abuse.

The office, which also has an administrative assistant, Cathaleen A. Peloquin, also meets routinely with parochial school students and youths in catechism and other programs to warn the youngsters about predators.

Office of Healing and Prevention personnel also frequently meet with their counterparts from other dioceses and organizations to discuss programming.

"There's a lot that we have to handle," said Mrs. Nugent, who graduated from Regis College and who holds a master's degree in psychology from Anna Maria College in Paxton.

Over the years, Mrs. Nugent has worked for the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare, the forerunner of the Department of Social Services; the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; Comprehensive Emergency Services and the former Lincoln Neighborhood Center.

For a time, she worked on a student suicide prevention program for the Framingham public school system.

Contact Bronislaus B. Kush by e-mail at bkush@telegram.com.