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On September 23, Tate Law Group, LLC filed a suit against The Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah on behalf of a victim of child sexual abuse. While the lawsuit concerns tragic events that occurred in 1987, the victim our firm is representing, Bill Baker Jr., has lived a life of turmoil: He is still recovering from his last relapse into drug abuse as he tries to deal with his trauma. The lawsuit claims that when Baker was only 9 years old, he was molested and raped by former priest Wayland Yoder Brown at St. James Catholic School.
This is not the first case Tate Law Group, LLC has filed against the Diocese of Savannah in regards to Wayland Brown. In 2018, we represented a man who was raped more than 60 times by two Catholic priests — one of whom was Wayland Brown. As a result of our fierce legal advocacy, Wayland Brown pleaded guilty to nine different charges of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment. He died in 2019 while serving this sentence.
The latest lawsuit filed by Tate Law Group, LLC focuses on information that the Diocese of Savannah had in 1986, which it failed to appropriately act on. A decades-old transcript reveals that the acting bishop at the time knew of a police investigation into Wayland Brown over allegations of child molestation. Instead of taking legal action, the church sent him to a priest pedophile rehabilitation camp for less than a year, allowing him to return and publicly practice priesthood in 1987. Thus, our firm alleges in the suit that the Diocese of Savannah not only knew of the allegations facing Brown but attempted to cover them up. The suit accuses the church of both conspiracy and fraud.
At Tate Law Group, LLC, we are committed to bringing sexual abusers to justice and helping survivors find the closure they need to move on. However, we know how truly terrifying it can be for survivors to speak out about the abuse they suffered. That is why our attorneys stand by our clients throughout every step of the legal process with genuine compassion. For this reason, we are nationally recognized for our legal skills and have recovered millions of dollars in compensation for our clients.
Call Tate Law Group, LLC at (912) 234-3030 to schedule a free, confidential case evaluation with one of our caring lawyers.
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