Detective Joe Walsh Responds To ADA Blessington

Dear Mr. Cipriano:  

I would like to congratulate you for all the work you have done during the past five years.  It is because of your reporting the truth and by you keeping the pressure on the District Attorney's Office that Mr. Shero was given his freedom. 

For several years I have been reading and following your blog.  I know you have spent countless hours during these five years finding out the truth and putting it on your blog. I tell my friends you are like a junk yard dog with a bone, who won't let go.  I wasn't present at the court hearing in June and I had no idea what was being said about me and the investigation.  I just finished reading your latest post and I feel I have to respond truthfully to the remarks made about me by Mr. Blessington.   

In October 2011, I received a phone call from Mr. Ed McCann asking me if I would be willing to come back to work for the District Attorney's Office helping the office with a case against the Archdiocese involving sexual abuse of a child at Saint Jerome's.  Since I had been one of the assigned detectives for the original Grand Jury that ended in September 2005, they felt I would be of significant help to them.  I agreed and began working sometime in the middle of October.  

The first thing, I was sworn into the Grand Jury and I was then able to read the entire case file, including the Grand Jury notes of testimony.  I met with Daniel Gallagher and heard his story  concerning what had occurred to him.   

After reading the case file I was surprised to learn how much more work had to be done.  Interviews of the teachers and priests plus the entire staff at Saint Jerome's School and Parish were never done.  No one had interviewed James Gallagher Jr.,his brother.  No one had spoken to the woman who signed out two books from the library dealing with sexual abuse and never verified how Daniel Gallagher got possession of them that were found in his room.  The list of things that still had to be done went on and on.  At a meeting with the ADA's and detectives I explained what still had to be done and I was told “that's why you're here.” The people at the meeting laughed but they knew it was true.  

Everyday I went to ADA Sorenson and told her what I was doing that day.  I would always ask if there was anything she wanted done besides what I planned to do.  If any of the other ADA's were around in the office I would also inform them what I was doing and ask if there was anything they wanted or needed me to do.

In addition to all the work needed to be done at Saint Jerome's, I also conducted interviews relating to Mark Bukowski's case against Father Brennan. I conducted interviews concerning Father Avery and the complaints made against him.  I conducted interviews concerning Msgr. Lynn and the accusations made against him.  I reviewed the Archdiocesan secret archive files. I was given the list of pedophile priests found in a safe in the Archdiocesan building and placed it on a property receipt.  I later testified to my findings in court.  I conducted a total of thirty five to forty interviews for the entire case.

I don't remember everything I did during the eleven months I worked there, but I can assure you that anything I was asked to do by any of the ADA's or detectives I did, and I did it professionally.  Anything I did concerning this case I did with the full knowledge of all the ADA's involved in the case.  Eight copies of whatever I did the day before were made and were submitted for discovery and to each of the ADA's the following morning.   If I conducted myself as Mr. Blessington describes, I could have been fired at any time but I wasn't.  

It's my belief that your reputation is the only thing you leave behind in life.  That's why I felt compelled to respond to the verbal attack on my character and reputation by Mr. Blessington.  

Joseph Walsh
Retired Philadelphia Detective

Editor's note: Cameron Kline, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, did not respond to an email seeking comment on what the retired detective had to say.