OP_041918

opprairie.com News
the orland park prairie | April 19, 2018 | 7
From APRIL 12
Lawsuit alleges sex abuse by McGrath, neglect by Providence Catholic
Joe Coughlin, Publisher
Amanda Stoll, Assistant Editor
A former Providence
Catholic High School student
has come forward to allege
he was sexually abused
by longtime Providence
President Richard J. Mc-
Grath.
Bob Krankvich, 36, represented
by Jeff Anderson &
Associates and Frost Pearlman,
is the plaintiff in a lawsuit
filed Thursday, April 12,
against Providence and the
Order of St. Augustine that
claims both organizations
knew of the alleged abuse
and shielded McGrath.
In a press conference held
April 12, Krankvich, a Homer
Glen native, told his story
of how McGrath repeatedly
sexually abused him in
1995-1996 and how the alleged
abuse led to personal
troubles, such as substance
abuse and mental instability,
including multiple suicide
attempts.
“I’ve been living in shame
and in guilt for my entire
adult life,” Krankvich said.
“I’ve battled addiction, I’ve
battled suicide, tried hurting
myself many times because I
can’t deal with all of the pain
and all of the shame and all
of the guilt that comes forward
every day when I think
about this.”
Krankvich said he filed an
official report against Mc-
Grath with the New Lenox
Police Department in January,
not long after seeing a
news report about McGrath
resigning from Providence
amid a separate criminal investigation.
The investigation
conducted by the New
Lenox Police Department
regarding alleged images of
a naked, male juvenile seen
on his phone was closed
mid-February because of
lack of evidence.
New Lenox Police Chief
Bob Sterba confirmed
Krankvich’s January report
and said his department
concluded a thorough investigation
“four weeks ago”
and turned the case over to
the Will County State’s Attorney’s
Office, which will
decide whether or not to file
charges against McGrath.
“We left no stone unturned,”
said Sterba, who watched a recording
of Krankvich’s January
statement and said, “It was
a lengthy interview, and the
staff all agreed he was credible.”
Documents released April
12 by the law firm state
McGrath allegedly sexually
abused Krankvich “on
multiple occasions,” when
Krankvich was approximately
13-15 years old. It states
incidents of sexual molestation
took place on the premises
of Providence.
The lawyers and the police
department said the abuse involved
both anal penetration
and oral copulation. Krankvich
said during the press
conference that the abuse occurred
both in McGrath’s office
at Providence, as well as
at the friary, where McGrath
lived.
The lawsuit alleges
Krankvich was not the only
one McGrath abused during
his career, and that the defendants
in the lawsuit had
knowledge of McGrath’s
behavior but “failed to act
on that knowledge to protect
children.”
It also states, more specifically,
that “inappropriate
conduct with children was
known to employees at Providence.”
Prior to his employment at
Providence from 1986 to December
of last year, McGrath
was employed at St. Rita
High School and Monastery
in Chicago, where Krankvich’s
lawyers say he served
on staff with at least four
other priests who have been
accused of wrongdoing.
During the press conference,
Krankvich’s attorney,
Jeff Anderson, did not detail
any specific evidence of
Providence Catholic facilitating
or hiding the abuse.
McGrath’s lawyer in a recent
criminal investigation,
Patrick Reardon, said April
12 he had not read through
the lawsuit and, until then,
was unsure if he would represent
McGrath and had no
comment. After the press
conference, he said he had no
comment.
In a message to Providence
Catholic colleagues, obtained
by The Orland Park Prairie,
Providence President John
Merkelis wrote, “The lawsuit
was our first notice of these
allegations. Given that there
is ongoing litigation, we are
unable to comment further. ...
We wish to assure all of you
that the safety and well-being
of Providence’s students is
and will remain of the utmost
importance to us.”
During the press conference,
Krankvich said he had
not told anyone — peers or
those associated with Providence
Catholic — of the alleged
abuse until six years
ago when he told his family.
The attorneys said another
focus of the lawsuit is the Augustinian
Order, which, they
said, harbors accused and
convicted clergy.
Marc Pearlman noted
while priests of the Archdiocese
of Chicago have publicized
a list of its accused clergy,
that list does not contain
Augustinians or other order
priests, such as Carmelites or
Jesuits.
The lawsuit specifically accuses
the Augustinian Order
of “negligence and/or deception
and concealment” of Mc-
Grath’s alleged actions.
The lawsuit seeks a court
order “requiring Augustinians
to publicly release
identities, histories and
documents regarding each
accused child molesting
cleric and each such cleric’s
pattern of grooming and
sexual behavior,” as well as
“an amount in excess of the
jurisdictional limits of this
court and such other relief as
this court deems just and equitable”
related to the accusations
of negligence, noting
that is in excess of $50,000.
In a written statement issued
after the press conference,
the Very Rev. Bernard
C. Scianna, prior provincial
of the Province of Our
Mother of Good Counsel
of the Order of St. Augustine,
detailed the Augustinian
process, noting the order
works with Praesidium Inc.
to safeguard minors and an
independent review board
makes recommendations for
a proper response to all allegations
of abuse.
Detailing his alleged abuse
During the press conference,
Krankvich said the
abuse began when he was
a 13-year-old freshman at
Providence Catholic.
Small and young for his
grade, he also was admittedly
troubled and occasionally
had discipline issues. But he
quickly received attention
from McGrath, the school’s
principal.
“I just felt special,”
Krankvich said. “I felt loved
by him.”
Krankvich said the abuse
began a “couple months”
later, and continued into his
sophomore year.
“In the 1990s, that priest,
that teacher, that principal,
that president of that school
repeatedly orally and anally
raped this child,” Anderson
said during the press conference.
Krankvich said he left the
school after being sent to
the office for disciplinary
action, where McGrath allegedly
threatened police action
again Krankvich and his
family if he told anyone of
the abuse.
“He had told me to remain
silent, to never come back to
Bob Krankvich (left) stands with lawyers Jeff Anderson
(middle) and Marc Pearlman at a press conference
Thursday, April 12, as they detail the alleged abuse
Krankvich endured in 1995-1996 while a student at
Providence Catholic. Joe Coughlin/22nd Century Media
the school, and that if I was
ever to talk about it he would
get my family or myself arrested
for doing the things I
had done,” Krankvich said
at the press conference.
Afterward, Krankvich said
he fled the school, literally
running from the New Lenox
campus to his home in Homer
Glen.
After graduating from
Lockport Township High
School, Krankvich enrolled
in the Marine Corps. According
to his lawyer, he was honorably
discharged. Krankvich
said he then struggled with
his emotions, his masculinity
and even his sexuality.
“I should have been this
manly man, but yet inside I
was feeling like a child —
like I was weak and couldn’t
handle anything,” Krankvich
said. “And, I tried to commit
suicide numerous times. The
only way I knew how to deal
with it was to mask my feelings
and my hurt with drugs
and alcohol.”
He said after years he finally
sought professional help,
which in turn helped him
“bridge the gap to be able to
talk about it.”
When he was roughly 30
years old, Krankvich said he
told his family of the alleged
abuse and first contemplated
coming forward; however,
he told the media, he was not
strong enough to do so then.
This past December, when
he saw the news about Mc-
Grath leaving Providence
amid a police investigation,
Krankvich said he was compelled
to speak.
“How many other people
have been hurt by this predator?”
Krankvich asked. “I
wanted to give power to other
victims to let them know
they don’t have to live in the
shadows. They don’t have to
battle with addiction alone.
They don’t have to hide anymore.
You can come forward.
It’s completely wrong what
happened to you. You had
no power, and I want that to
be known that people like
this shouldn’t be let roam
the streets, they shouldn’t
be teaching our youth in our
schools.”
After the press conference,
Krankvich’s father, also Bob,
tempered his emotions and
only had a few words for his
son’s efforts.
“He is my hero,” Bob said.
The press release and accompanying
documents,
including the full lawsuit,
photos and background information
on McGrath and
the Augustinian Order, can
be found at www.anderson
advocates.com.
Managing Editor Bill Jones
contributed to this story.