Anglican Watch continues to follow the criminal case involving Episcopal priest Richard Losch and the church’s feckless response to the allegations. With that in mind, we remind readers and members of the media that the Grafton Superior Court (N.H.) will hear the Losch criminal case on April 8 and 9.
As a matter of law, Losch is presumed innocent.
However, Anglican Watch has researched the case extensively, and we find the allegations to be credible and convincing. Moreover, while we cannot prove it, we believe Losch has assaulted others.
Every bit as troubling as the allegations against Losch is the Episcopal Church’s dismal handling of the situation.
Time and again, bishops have brushed off the allegations, tossed the hot potato to someone else, and failed to fulfill the legal and ethical requirement of mandatory reporting.
Despite the passage of time, mandatory reporting is essential, as child sexual abusers typically have multiple victims. Thus, when church officials fail to report, they discourage other potential victims from coming forward.
Culpable Episcopal officials include:
- Former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, who ignored multiple written pleas for help from the victim.
- Alabama bishop Glenda Curry and former diocesan Title IV intake officer Rob Morpeth, who repeatedly lied about the situation, including falsely telling law enforcement that Losch was no longer in active ministry and did not have access to children.
- Former intake officer for bishops Todd Ousley, who brushed off pleas for assistance from the victim and an ELCA bishop.
- Bishop Alan Gates, who repeatedly ignored pleas from the victim for help.
- Retired bishop Holly Hollerith, who said in an email that he wouldn’t “touch the case with a 1000 ft. pole.”
- Current intake officer for bishops Barb Kempf, who has aptly been described as “Todd Ousley 2.0.” In other words, Kempf consistently ignores the provisions of church canons to protect bishops and rule against complainants. Specifically, Kempf states that:
- Violating church canons is okay if it was common practice at the time.
- It’s okay if bishops don’t provide a pastoral response to Title IV complainants, even though Title IV training materials expressly say it is a key component in all Title IV cases.
- She has fact-finding authority during intake, despite the fact that church canons expressly state that is not the case.
- In other words, despite having a law degree and experience as an administrative law judge, Kempf is, in practice, nothing but an apologist for corrupt bishops.
We also want to be very clear to all involved: When, as here, the victim is not Episcopal, there is no obligation under Title IV for the victim to figure out who in the church is responsible. All bishops and other judicatories need to take responsibility, and this business of “not my monkey, not my circus” needs to stop. Specifically, if someone comes to you with a complaint of abuse, YOU need to be responsible for making sure it’s acted on.
Ignoring the matter, as did Alan Gates and Michael Curry; or brushing it off as politically inexpedient, as did Holly Hollerith; or lying to cover it up, as did Glenda Curry, is unacceptable.
Anglican Watch hopes other media will join us in covering the case. And regardless of the outcome of the criminal trial, we believe it is important that we shine light upon these allegations. And we encourage others to demand that the Episcopal Church act with integrity in this and other clergy misconduct cases.
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