Deep within the litany of outrages by the Catholic Church documented by the Maryland Office of the Attorney General’s report, there is a revelation as shocking as the predatory priests or the religious bureaucracy eager to hide their sins.
Nearly four decades ago, the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office, led then by Warren B. Duckett, granted immunity to a child abuser.
By 1985, angry families at St. Andrew by the Bay near Cape St. Claire demanded that the Archdiocese of Baltimore remove and punish their lead priest, William Simms. Accusations that he had abused multiple children in his care were tumbling out, and parents wanted action. The church in 2002 listed him as credibly accused, the attorney general’s report said.
That July nearly 38 years ago, an Anne Arundel County assistant prosecutor sent a letter to attorneys for the church, Gallagher Evelius & Jones.
“I agree on behalf of the State’s Attorney’s Office not to prosecute Father Simms for any incidents of child abuse he discusses with [county police investigators], no matter how serious, and whether we already know about them or not,” the prosecutor wrote in a letter referenced by the report...
