An Alabama Bishop who received allegations of sexual abuse about other priests while serving in Michigan once dismissed an allegation, that was later found to be credible and settled in court, as "unsubstantiated," according to a report.
Bishop Steven J. Raica, now at the Diocese of Birmingham, previously held a role at the Diocese of Lansing in Michigan. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel released a report of "allegations of sexual abuse or assault and other sexual misconduct (including grooming and misuse of authority), by priests or deacons who are current or former clergy in the Diocese of Lansing."
Raica was a priest in Michigan for almost four decades until 2014, AL.com reported. Raica is not accused of abusing anyone; his name only appears in the role of receiving and investigating reports about others.
Before moving to Alabama in 2020, Raica received 17 reports regarding priests and abuse at the Diocese of Lansing, AL.com reported. According to the report most, of the incidents occurred years earlier, including a 2010 incident accusing priest John Slowey of abusing a young child at an orphanage in Lansing between 1954 and 1955. Slowey was deceased when the report was made and Raica and another priest ruled the claim "unsubstantiated."
According to the Attorney General report, Raica and the other priest investigating the allegation ruled it "unsubstantiated" because "there were no allegations of misconduct in the files of the Lansing Diocese or the Kalamazoo diocese, (2) the St. Vincent Home did not have records from the 1950s, (3) the Review Board determined that the Diocese did not 'cover up' sexual abuse, (4) the review Board could not determine whether John Doe 110 was or was not sexually abused by Fr. Slowey, (5) there was no corroborating evidence, (6) the priest assignment log showed Fr. Slowey's 'transfers [were] unremarkable and do not constitute adminicular evidence of transferring an abuser.'"
Later, the allegation was found credible and settled by the diocese for a monetary amount with the victim, according to the attorney general's report.
"In his role as Chancellor of the Diocese of Lansing, then-Monsignor Raica managed all records for the diocese, and as such, researched diocesan records for information that could substantiate claims or allegations," Donald Carson, spokesman for the Diocese of Birmingham, stated according to AL.com. "It is not unusual that over time, additional information could be brought forth that would change initial findings."
The report also details that Raica once wrote a letter in defense of a priest with criminal convictions and sexual misconduct allegations. The priest in question also had been rejected by another diocese, investigated for sexual harassment at a college, and had been reported for allegedly abusing children at a school, AL.com reported.
In 2010, Raica wrote a letter in support of the priest, stating that outside of a 1985 arrest, "[t]here has never been any further episode of indiscretions," adding that there were "no reservations" about the man's priestly service, AL.com reported.
The man was removed as a priest following a complaint and investigation in 2018, AL.com reported. In the complaint, the victim alleged that he had been sexually assaulted in 1980 when he was 18 and had first told the diocese of the incident in 2004.
