Seventy-one priests sexually abused 281 minors over the Bridgeport Diocese's 66-year history, according to retired Judge Robert Holzberg, who conducted an in-depth investigation of priest sexual abuse.

A small group—10 priests—abused the majority of these children, leaving 172 victims, or 61%.

Holzberg, now a partner at Pullman & Comley in Bridgeport, led a team of attorneys and investigators to analyze more than 250,000 papers and electronic records. He released his findings Tuesday during an hourlong press conference with Bishop Frank Caggiano.

A major takeaway: Two former bishops, Walter Curtis and Edward Egan, who have both since died, contributed to the problem through administrative failures from 1961-2000.

"The administrations suffered from significant handicaps," Holzberg told reporters. "There was a failure of attitude and misplaced priorities."

The former bishops failed to move to remove priests who had abused minors and "repeatedly ignored warning signs and red flags," Holzberg said.

"There was a lack of compassion and support for survivors, and often they showed hostility toward them," he added.

Caggiano, the current diocese leader, apologized and used the word "evil" on at least three occasions in talking about the priests' sexual abuse of children.

"They were evil and crimes of abuse of minors," he said. "The wounds will take a long time to heal. I am deeply sorry for that betrayal."

Caggiano told victims, "We will accompany you on any road to healing."

Prolific abusers

The statistics were alarming, Holzberg said.

"This is a horrific story," he said.

But the former judge also pointed to a "fundamental shift" in the diocese's actions, and the work by its last two bishops, Caggiano and William Lori.

"Their attitudes stand in deep contrast to Bishops Egan and Curtis," Holzberg said.

Moving forward, Holzberg recommends, among other things, that the church commit to training, strictly enforce a zero-tolerance policy regarding child sexual abuse, have a neutral third party look at sex abuse allegations in the diocese, and continue to reach out to survivors.

The diocese said it had paid $52.5 million in settlements for 156 claims since 1953. It tapped Holzberg in October 2018 to head an independent accountability investigation into allegations that clergy were sexually abusing parishioners going back decades.

At the time, Holzberg told the Connecticut Law Tribune he received a commitment from Caggiano that nothing would be off-limits. He reiterated Tuesday that he told Caggiano at the start of the investigation that "the report will not play favorites," and that the investigation would be "thorough, accurate and honest." Caggiano agreed to give the team all the resources needed to conduct the investigation, Holzberg said.

Holzberg's law career dates back to 1978, and he has since been a practicing attorney, Superior Court judge and law professor. He said he had unlimited access to all of the diocese archives and files since 1953, the year the Diocese of Bridgeport spun off from the Hartford Diocese.

Before retiring from the bench in 2012 after more than 22 years, Holzberg successfully mediated claims against St. Francis Hospital in Hartford involving allegations of decadeslong sexual abuse of minors at the hands of a hospital employee. And in 2014, the Stamford corporation counsel retained him to lead an investigation into allegations that a Stamford Board of Education high school teacher was involved in a sexual relationship with her student.

Holzberg leads the alternative dispute resolution practice at Pullman & Comley. He is a mediator and arbitrator in civil matters in state and federal court, including personal injury, employment, construction, environmental, probate, insurance, intellectual property, and commercial disputes.

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