UPDATE –
Seattle Archdiocese officials have admitted that Br. Karl Walczak was removed for sex abuse allegations.
Walczak has been principal of O’Dea High School since 2011. Before that, he was at Brother Rice High School in Chicago. He was principal of Damien Memorial School in Honolulu from 1987 to 1999.
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There are reports of out Seattle that O’Dea High School principal Br. Karl Walczak was accused of child sexual abuse in court documents and removed from his job in August.
And three months later, parents still have not been told the truth.
According to a letter which has since been taken down from the O’Dea website (it used to be posted here. You can now view it here.), Walczak “took a leave” of absence in August, “to assist in resolving a proof of claim filed in the Christian Brother’s Institute bankruptcy proceedings.”
The letter continues, “Thank you for your ongoing support of Brother Walczak and the entire O’Dea community.”
The only proof of claims filed against individuals in the Irish Christian Brother Bankruptcy were claims of child sexual abuse. There was no mention of any allegations to parents, students or the greater community.
BehindThePineCurtain also is reporting the abuse in a letter to Seattle Bishop J. Peter Sartain.
It is now almost November, and church and school officials have remained silent. Where are the promises of transparency? Why aren’t they reaching out to other potential victims? Why aren’t they doing ANYTHING?
If I were an O’Dea parent, I would demand answers, a tuition refund and a transfer for my child to a school where officials DO NOT clam up when the principal is sued for sex abuse.
Walczak also worked at Damien Memorial School in Honolulu and Brother Rice High School in Chicago.
More coming …
Walczak, like Ford and Heustis all taught at St. Laurence in Burbank IL at the same time. In reviewing the list of accused CFC’s there is a common and disturbing link that being no representation of these and others at St. Laurence.
I am a survivor of one of the above. It has taken more than 20 years to come to grips with what he did to me. I buried my anger and grief in self-harming ways and hurt those I love because of it.
These men are criminals. The leadership of the CFC’s are co-conspirators. All of them should be charged under the RICO statute for their complicity and knowledge in an on-going conspiracy. Instead these cowards, and that is what all of them living and deceased are, attempt to hide their assets in Christian Brother Institutes in order to protect their comfortable lives and not taking responsibility for their actions.
With the legal actions taken against these men I hope for justice for all survivors. For me, it has begun a road to healing, whether I will be whole again I do not know. I pray for justice. One day perhaps I will pray for forgiveness of the serial perpetrator that molested me, repeatedly, but I am not there yet.
Thank you for your work on this website. May our loving God continue to bless you in your work to bring light of accountability and justice to those who lurk in the shadow and those that protect them.
Before any judgement passes, facts must come forward; I was a student of Br. Walczak. Actually, he was one of my mentors who influenced me to become a teacher. Br. Walczak never exhibited inappropriate behavior while I was in his classes over 30 years ago. When I worked for him, he always exhibited the highest standards of professionalism. The allegations against Br. Walczak recently surfaced, and let’s keep in mind that this alleged incident took place 40 years ago. Now I am not trying to discredit the supposed victim in any way. I am just saying that these allegations must be closely scrutinized before Church officials should make any public comments. A practicing Catholic, I am ashamed and saddened by the church’s behavior towards past crimes. However, I believe the Church is now taking a proactive stance in dealing with past crimes and allegations, and eventually the truth will be told. Unfortunately, I also know of some disgruntled Catholics who have falsely accused the Church and priests of wrong-doing. Let Brother Walzcak’s strong, credible reputation stand, until facts show, if at all, he engaged in inappropriate behavior!
I am an alumnus of Damien Memorial High School who was a student at the time Brother Karl Walzcak was present and teaching. My recollection is that Brother Walzcak performed his duties and conducted himself among the high school students with professionalism, fairness, and firmness. During my high school years, there was never a single complaint in regard’s to Brother Walzcak’s conduct or job performance. I just remember Brother Walzcak being a serious, professional but someone you could talk to if you needed. I remember a private conversation with Brother Walzcak about the Christian Brothers vocation. I never felt or perceived anything out of the ordinary with Brother Walzcak. During my high school years, I never heard anything negative from my fellow students about Brother Walzcak.
Hello.
Thank you for this article. We have to continue to shine a light on incidents like this, so that more will come forward. Also for the entire public to know that they can’t sit back and not react to any form of childhood sexual abuse. Rule #1 should be that the child is always believed first, unless facts can be proven otherwise. I feel sorry for anyone that has been falsely accused, but I would rather make the error in favor of the child (the one that needs protection). More of this attitude would help show abusers that these actions will not be tolerated. This before the real mental damage is done to the victim, who is supposed to grow up and be a productive citizen. Yet, on the edge of a mental breakdown.
I dealt with this same type of incident in a Church of Christ, with an uncle of mine. People are required to speak up. Adults need to protect children, not harm them. My point being, that in this letter to the parents, they were publicly backing this pervert, and just felt that the boat would not be rocked. The victim was probably labeled a liar. I am so thankful this news came out….and keeps coming out.
Thanks Joelle for holding corrupt church officials and their officials at least accountable to the public. However, after a while, it gets very very old and sickening to repeatedly witness failures to assist in protecting precious children. Cannot imagine how horrifying it will be if this sexual predator who was obviously protected by Catholic church officials and attorneys hurt any others while the Christian Brothers sat on this information.
And tragically, if parents and the faithful in the pews demand accountability, they will be defamed and destroyed behind closed doors, until they are silenced for speaking out. This is how the church minimizes its damages….. destroy the Whistleblowers and their families, and maybe just maybe no one will pay attention to the church’s intentional fraud and failures to report as mandated by law crimes. This subject is a serious PUBLIC SAFETY CRISIS that will only be corrected if tax exempt status is revoked. Until then, it is all about money and money and money and fraud.