New Orleans Saints Fighting To Prevent Emails That Allegedly Prove They Helped Catholic Church Cover Up Sexual Abuse Crimes From Going Public

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The New Orleans Saints are being sued after they allegedly did PR for the local Archdiocese of New Orleans who was embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal.

According to a report from the AP, the Saints are fighting to prevent emails that proved they helped the Archdiocese from covering up sexual abuse from going public.

Via AP

Attorneys for about two dozen men suing the church say in court filings that the 276 documents they obtained through discovery show that the NFL team, whose owner is devoutly Catholic, aided the Archdiocese of New Orleans in its “pattern and practice of concealing its crimes.”

“Obviously, the Saints should not be in the business of assisting the Archdiocese, and the Saints’ public relations team is not in the business of managing the public relations of criminals engaged in pedophilia,” the attorneys wrote in a court filing. “The Saints realize that if the documents at issue are made public, this professional sports organization also will be smearing itself.”

Saints lawyers called the accusations that the team helped cover up sexual abuse crimes “outrageous” but are still fighting to keep the emails private because they “are not for public fodder”.

The @Saints argue in court papers that emails between team executives and the area’s Roman Catholic archdiocese about its clergy-abuse crisis should be kept secret and not be “fodder for the public.” (3/4)

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 24, 2020

Saints attorneys, in court papers, disputed any suggestion that the team helped the church cover up crimes, calling such claims “outrageous.” They further said that the emails, exchanged in 2018 and 2019, were intended to be private and should not be “fodder for the public.” The archdiocese is also fighting the release of the emails.

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The NFL has decided not comment on the case.

The National Football League, which was advised of the matter by plaintiffs’ attorneys because the Saints’ emails used the team’s nfl.com domain, has not commented on the case. NFL policy says everyone who is a part of the league must refrain from “conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in” the NFL