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Lawyers call for new charges against ex-Mother Seton priest
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Related Topics: Montgomery County
Montgomery County (Map, News) - Attorneys for the boy who claimed he was molested by a priest at an Archdiocese of Washington church called on Montgomery County police to press additional charges against the clergyman.
Brandon Rains — now 21 years old — claimed in 2003 that he was molested as a teenager by Father Aaron Joseph Cote while the priest was working at Mother Seton Catholic Church in Germantown. Those charges were dismissed by Montgomery County police.
However, in 2005, the county reopened the case. In the course of a civil investigation, Joe Anderson, an attorney for Rains, uncovered new evidence that implicates Cote in the alleged incidents in Germantown, as well as evidence that he committed similar molestation crimes in Ohio and Peru, he said.
Cote remains a priest in New York, although he is not working with children. The Order of Dominican Fathers and Brothers, of which he is a member, refused comment.
Anderson made his comments following a news conference in which Rains’ parents and members of SNAP, an advocacy group for those molested by clergy, announced a $1.2 million civil settlement with the Washington Diocese and the Dominicans.
Anderson said the original case was based solely on Rains’ word. Now, he said, he has submitted additional evidence to Montgomery County police, including documents that show the church was concerned about Cote’s drinking and interest in children.
“I’m still at a loss as to why this guy hasn’t been prosecuted, frankly,” Anderson said. “It’s a mystery to me why Cote hasn’t been charged in the face of this compelling evidence. It’s a mystery to me why it’s yet to be prosecuted. We’re very hopeful that it will be.”
Montgomery County police spokesman Rodney Barnes told The Examiner that the investigation was an “open, ongoing case,” but that they had no new leads.
Under the terms of the settlement, neither the Diocese nor the Dominicans admit any fault. According to diocese spokeswoman Susan Gibbs, the Dominicans are paying the settlement and it clears the Diocese of any financial obligation to pay Rains.
SNAP “is suggesting that the archdiocese kept secrets,” Gibbs said. “We haven’t done anything wrong.”
dfrancis@dcexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
7:13 AM MST on Thu., Jul. 3, 2008 re: "Priest charged with sex abuse of altar boy surrenders to police"
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Sister Maureen Paul Turlish said:
Aaron Cote was only arrested in Maryland because its criminal statutes are somewhat better than most although it civil statutes are gravely deficient. Even though the police said that they have been investigating this individual for years, it was only because additional evidence was brought foward that he was finally criminally charged. Most victims of childhood sexual abuse in Maryland as elsewhere will never have the opportunity to bring forward the horrors surrounding their sexual abuse as children. Interesting that "No parties admitted wrongdoing in the settlement." Institutional leadership seem genetically programmed and therefore unable to admit that wrongs, evils,sins and crimes were committed. Marylanders need to know that a recent bill introduced in Annapolis by Assemblyman Eric Bromwell was successfully thwarted by the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Maryland Catholic Conference, the only church denomination to so viciously attack both the bill and the per
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