A Yakima-area woman has reported to the Catholic Diocese of Yakima that she was sexually abused by a priest here about 20 years ago. The woman, who asked not to be identified, said the Rev. Frank Duffy inappropriately touched her in the late 1980s when she was an adult. She reported the alleged abuse to the Catholic Diocese of Yakima in early May. The diocese notified the media Thursday, saying the woman gave them permission to do so. Duffy was a Jesuit priest who served in Yakima from 1970 to 1989. He died in 1992. The Rev. Robert Siler, diocesan chief of staff, identified the woman as a vulnerable adult when the alleged abuse occurred. He characterized a vulnerable adult as someone, because of physical or emotional reasons, would not likely be able to report abuse without help. The woman "was at a state in that part of her life where she couldn't defend herself," Siler said. Siler said the diocese was releasing information about the alleged abuse in case there are other potential victims who might come forward. "We want to be as proactive as we can and reach out," he said. The diocese has offered pastoral care -- such as listening, assessing needs and praying -- to the woman through its victim assistance coordinator, therapist Janet Erickson. Both Yakima Bishop Carlos Sevilla and the Rev. John Whitney, leader of the Oregon Jesuits, have also met with the woman and her family. The woman came forward after the news media reported in May that the Portland Archdiocese settled lawsuits alleging abuse by Duffy in parishes there. At about the same time, a California lawyer took out advertisements in the Yakima Herald-Republic seeking information about Duffy from readers. Reached by telephone Thursday, lawyer John Manly of Newport Beach, Calif., said he believes there may be many more victims of Duffy's abuse, which could help a case he's developing on behalf of a client. Duffy became associate pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Yakima in 1970, mainly serving Spanish-speaking parishioners. Later he provided Hispanic ministry at St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Cowiche. The Yakima diocesan lay advisory board is currently revising its policy on sexual abuse and has proposed removing the term "vulnerable adult" to concentrate on victims who are minors. Russ Mazzola, the advisory's board chair-man, has said in the past the diocese's resources "are limited" when it comes to reviewing allegations of sexual abuse and therefore wants to make minors the priority. Robert Fontana, leader of the local Voice of the Faithful group advocating change in the church, praised the diocese for re-leasing information about the alleged victim Thursday but added that the case val-idates the group's view that vulnerable adults should be covered in the diocesan policy on sexual abuse. "I would hope the diocese would use this incident to reconsider keeping vulnerable adults in," Fontana said. Siler said that even if vulnerable adults aren't included in the final policy, the diocese would still take a complaint like the woman's very seriously. "If this happened today, we'd most likely contact the police," he said. Siler said no other com- plaints about Duffy have been made to the diocese, and that all priests in the diocese have been notified about the woman's allega-tions. The diocese also contin-ues to advertise its hot line for reporting abuse: 1-888-276-4490.   A Yakima-area woman has reported to the Catholic Diocese of Yakima that she was sexually abused by a priest here about 20 years ago. The woman, who asked not to be identified, said the Rev. Frank Duffy inappropriately touched her in the late 1980s when sh City Desk, LOCAL

2008-07-03T20:08:42Z

by Jane Gargas

2008-07-04T06:15:25Z

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'Vulnerable' adult reports past abuse to diocese 5513 vulnerable-adult-reports-past-abuse-to-diocese Web Story

Yakima Herald-Republic

2008-07-04T07:00:00Z

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07/04/08 Duffy published Web Daily

2009-03-20T02:27:04Z