Spotlight on abuse: Episcopal babysitter Richard Westcott Weaverling

In all, 35 plaintiffs including parents, parishioners, and children also sued Weaverling, his mother, and four groups of 27 defendants civilly over dozens of sex crimes in the historic church’s nursery, including Bruton Parish and its clergy and trustees, the Church Insurance Company, the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia and its bishop individually, a retired bishop, chancellors and trustees of the diocese as individuals, and church attorneys. The church defendants claimed they had no way of knowing that Weaverling would abuse as many as 15 infants and children in the care of Bruton Parish. Plaintiffs sought $17 million in damages, alleging “church officials conspired to hide the molestations on the advice of the church’s insurance company to prevent bad publicity and liability.” They also rejected the Bruton Parish claim in 1995 that “only two small families” had been victimized in the crimes. A later 1998 lawsuit alleged that Bruton Parish associate rector Michael W. Jones had “an intimate sexual relationship” with Weaver before he was hired as a babysitter at the church.