United States-based lawyer McDonald Worley recently arrived in Biliran, Eastern Visayas to interview nine of the alleged victims of American priest Rev. Kenneth Hendricks, who is now detained in Quezon City jail over charges of sexual abuse.
The Houston-based lawyer clarified that he was not involved with the criminal side of the case filed against the 77-year-old priest. Worley emphasized that he is after the civil aspect, which focuses on the compensation received by the alleged victims.
“I have nothing to do with the criminal aspect of the case. I just handle the civil side. So it’s basically money that has to be paid to the victims,” Worley said as reported by The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
“A fund to compensate sexual abuse victims by Hendricks is being set up by the U.S. Catholic Church. I am here to gather information and the jury will have to decide on the amount,” Worley earlier added as reported by the Philippine News Agency.
Worley explained that the alleged victims were seven and 12 years old when the abused happened. He also narrated the confessions of the young victims who are now in their early 20s.
“He would then lure them to his apartment where he would gradually progress from spending time with the boys to fondling them,” the American lawyer stated as reported by The Manila Standard.
“It’s basically testimony as evidence. It’s all testimony. It’s really brave for them to say ‘hey, this happened to me’ and I will say something and do something about it so this will not happen again to somebody else,” Worley added.
He said the Church could be held liable for the actions of Hendricks since they were aware of his misconduct but failed to put a stop to it.
“That’s part of the investigation. There is a system failure. They need to have policies and procedures in place so this will not happen. They know something is going on and they do nothing about it. They did not stop it,” Worley said.
He also explained that there will be people who will not believe that a member — let alone a leader — of a religious organization would be capable of such abuse.
“There will always be people who don’t believe something bad will be done by a religious person, or by persons in authority. You don’t think bad about them because it didn’t happen to you. But if 50 people said, ‘It happened to me,’ that’s another story,” the lawyer added.
He also urged those victims who haven’t come forward to break their silence and report the crime committed against them.
“I know, It’s very embarrassing to come forward and say, ‘This happened to me.’ That’s why you should be brave to come forward and say, ‘This happened to me, too’” the lawyer said.
“I would like them to come forward so this [sexual abuse] will stop. It’s hard and embarrassing, but if you keep quiet, this keeps going on because no one is saying it,” he added.
Hendricks is charged with acts of lasciviousness and child abuse and would face federal cases in the United States for engaging in illicit sexual acts in the Philippines. He was also charged in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio with illegal sexual misconduct in a foreign place.
He was arrested in St. Isidore the Worker Chapel in December 2018 by U.S. Homeland Security, Philippine Bureau of Immigration, and local police. He served as a missionary priest since 1988 in Naval, Biliran where he was accused of molesting altar boys.
