Q: You and Jeff Anderson are representing two of the victims of former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky in a suit against Sandusky and the university and Second Mile. Have you been involved in any other litigation related to the sexual abuse of children? What is your role in such litigation?
A: Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham contacted me in 2004 to consult with her office on what became its groundbreaking 2005 grand jury report on child sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The lengthy report found a pronounced pattern of the archdiocese knowing about abusing priests and callously and recklessly placing them in one position after another with access to children. There was more attention paid to secrecy and reputation than child safety. The report is a landmark in the protection of children, because it laid out the pattern we now see at Penn State, Poly Prep, Horace Mann, the Orthodox Jewish community, Jehovah's Witnesses and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, among others. Cardinal Justin Rigali accused Abraham, who is Jewish, of being anti-Catholic but also pledged to do better.