In some religious organizations, it is true that clergy will have unsupervised access to minors. This could include a priest who meets with children for religious instruction, for example, or a youth pastor who is in charge of operating the youth group for the congregation.
In fact, this unsupervised access is one of the main red flags of clergy abuse. Parents should be wary if a clergy member always wants to spend time alone with children, especially if they discourage other adults from monitoring the situation or even participating. It may sound like they mean well and that they are just trying to take personal responsibility, but the reality could be that they are trying to create a scenario where they are alone with a minor without another adult to supervise their actions.
How this complicates cases
Unsupervised access can significantly complicate a clergy abuse case. First and foremost, it often becomes an issue of one person’s testimony against another. A young person may say that they experienced inappropriate sexual contact, for example, but the clergy member simply denies that any wrongdoing took place. Since no one else was there, it is difficult to prove exactly what happened.
In other cases, clergy members may use their position of power to their own advantage. The clergy member could lie to the minor and tell them that the sexual contact was religiously permissible or necessary, for example. Since the minor is the only one present and the clergy member is in a position of power and authority, they may either believe them or feel less emboldened to speak up about what happened to them.
Many clergy abuse cases do eventually come to light. Parents of those who have suffered this abuse need to know exactly what legal options they have and what steps they can take at this critical time.