The judge overseeing the Boston abuse lawsuits has ordered the archdiocese to turn over the psychiatric records of priests. The judge ruled that the records are not privileged because they were already handed over to a third party—the archdiocese—and are no longer private between therapist and client.
There may be some interesting revelations in those records as to how the psychiatrists treated—or failed to treat—the pedophilic or ephebophilic tendencies of the men being treated. We may also see recommendations that the men were cured and that could be placed back in ministry. It may just undermine the plaintiffs’ cases that the archdiocese was reckless if it is found that medical professionals gave bad advice to the archdiocese.
