Deaf Abuse Survivor Sues

By Mike Finnegan

Today a deaf man who was raped as a child by a serial perpetrator in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is taking action. I applaud his courage and commitment to making sure that this doesn’t happen to other children. He can’t undue what happened to him as a child but his action today ensures that children will be safer. He is also reaching out to other survivors who are suffering in silence and shame.

Dean Weissmuller was a deaf child at St. John’s School for Deaf in Milwaukee when he met Fr. Lawrence Murphy. Murphy was the director of the school and a larger than life presence at the school. Dean was only a 9-12 year old child at the time. Murphy sexually abused Dean on numerous occasions at the school.

Documents recently uncovered from the Archdiocese show that Dean was not alone. A psychological professional did a three day evaluation of Murphy. In that evaluation there is an estimate that Murphy sexually molested at least 200 deaf children. My heart goes out to these survivors. These children were already silenced by their disability and then silenced even more through the horrendous acts of sexual abuse. These children were among the most vulnerable in our society. Children that already lacked a voice and had difficulty communicating were further silenced.

All of this begs the question - Could all of this abuse been prevented?

Shockingly, newly uncovered documents reveal that the answer is YES it could have been prevented. Secret documents show that in the late 1950’s a priest reported to the Archbishop that Murphy was molesting children at the school for the deaf. The Archdiocese left Murphy there for almost two decades after this report and countless deaf children were sexually abused by Murphy. More information about Murphy and some of these secret documents can be found on http://www.bishop-accountability.org/assign/Murphy_Lawrence_C.htm. There is also information about Murphy and other cases available on http://www.andersonadvocates.com/

Pre-press conference news on Murphy lawsuit...

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/53088737.html?video=pop&t=a&bctid=CLIP_ID_105021