 if you wanna kick us off, we're ready to go. Great, thank you. Good afternoon, I am TJ Donovan, Vermont Attorney General. I am joined today by members of the St. Joseph's Orphanage Task Force. With me today is Mayor Morrell Weinberger. Mayor, thank you for joining us today. From Burlington Police Department, Chief John Mirrad, as well as Detective Jim Treve and Sergeant Bellowville. Thank you for joining us. Colonel Matt Birmingham from the Vermont State Police is with us as well. Mark Wenberg, who is facilitating the restorative inquiry for the voices of St. Joseph's Orphanage is with us as well. And two representatives from the voices of St. Joseph's Orphanage are with us, Brenda Hannon and Walter Colty. Brenda and Walter, thank you for joining. States Attorney Sarah George, who was also a member of this task force could not join us today. I wanna thank the task force for their hard work and their dedication in investigating allegations of criminal conduct that occurred at St. Joseph's Orphanage. I wanna thank Bishop Christopher Cohen from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington for cooperating with our investigation. I wanna thank Catholic Charities for cooperating with our investigation as well. But I wanna thank the survivors of St. Joseph's Orphanage for their courage, their commitment and their dedication to joining together to address the trauma they suffered. And that journey continues still today. We created this task force over two years ago as a result of an article that alleged that a murder occurred at St. Joseph's Orphanage. Murder is the only crime that does not carry what is called statute of limitations. It is not barred by any sort of statute of limitations. As a result of that, we convened and created this task force and had three goals in mind. Number one, to investigate this allegation of a homicide. Secondly, that in the course of that investigation, if other criminal conduct was uncovered to investigate those allegations of criminal conduct. And third, given the length of time and the lifespan of the orphanage and some of these allegations to create a restorative process that you'll hear more about, to work with the voices of St. Joseph's Orphanage to work with the survivors where justice cannot be brought oftentimes in a court of law, but we can still seek justice. We can still seek healing. We can still seek reconciliation through a process that we have embarked upon through our restorative justice model. Regarding the allegation of a murder that allegedly occurred at St. Joseph Orphanage, we have found that there is no credible evidence to suggest that a murder occurred. In fact, there is insufficient evidence that a murder occurred at St. Joseph Orphanage. Therefore, there is no criminal charge forthcoming from this review or from this task force. As I said, the allegation of murder was the catalyst for this task force since there is no statute of limitations that would bar this allegation. There were a couple of different allegations regarding murder allegedly that a kid, a child was thrown from a window that another child was thrown down the stairs. The Burlington Police Department did an excellent investigation with the assistance of the Vermont State Police and members of my office. They conducted an exhaustive review and there is no evidence to suggest that a murder occurred. As a result, there is no criminal liability against any individual for a charge of murder or a manslaughter, nor is there any corporate criminal liability towards any organization. This is a criminal investigation and the accused has rights. Those rights include the presumption of innocence as well as a Fifth Amendment right not to cooperate with our investigation. But as I said, the Roman Catholic Diocese did cooperate as did the Catholic Charities. In the course of that investigation into homicide, other allegations of criminal conduct arose from St. Joseph's orphanage. Those allegations included allegations of sexual abuse and allegations of physical abuse and other types of abuse. To be clear, these allegations were made by many survivors. But to also be clear, these allegations were never investigated when they should have been investigated at the time the allegation was made. Every allegation deserves an investigation and that has been a failure of the state criminal justice system not to investigate those allegations when they occurred. As a result for many of these cases, there is a lack of corroborating evidence whether it be medical reports or documentary evidence and it is hard to generate a probable cause, the legal threshold to file a charge. Moreover, given the lapse of time, these cases are barred by the statute of limitations that effectively we cannot pursue any charge because of the statute of limitations. But I wanna be clear that part of this process that we'll talk about in terms of the restorative process is a failure from Vermont law enforcement including the Attorney General's office that did not do its job back decades ago in the 60s, 70s, 50s when these allegations occurred and made it impossible now 50, 60 years later to bring a charge not only because of the statute of limitation but the lack of evidence. But it's clear that abuse did occur at St. Joseph's orphanage and that many children suffered. As I said that when we have been prevented from conducting an investigation as a result of the statute of limitations, the harm incurred by many of the residents still resonates today. You will hear from two of them later but I've talked to many of these survivors. And oftentimes the abuse that they suffered was emotional abuse, was diminishment, was trauma and oftentimes that abuse that did never left a scar or a bruise but indelibly changed these young people's lives. So much so that even today, 50, 60 years later, they still suffer from that abuse. I've had the privilege to meet with many of them. I've had the privilege to talk with many of them. These are good people. They are honest people. They have acted in good faith. I believe many of the stories that I've been told by them. It is my hope that through a restorative process by seeking that restorative justice principle of repairing the harm done, we can bring peace. We can bring justice. We can bring reconciliation for so many of these survivors who still struggle today. I know the mayor has another commitment so I wanna get to him before three o'clock. So Mr. Mayor, let me turn it over to you. Thank you, Attorney General Donovan. And thank you for your leadership and really compassion throughout this process and putting so much effort into bringing us to this important announcement, series of announcements today. When in the summer of 2018, I read the new reports that came at that summer of the harm that was inflicted on residents of the St. Joseph's orphanage. It was quickly clear to me that we needed some kind of official accounting of what transpired at the orphanage in order to bring some measure of resolution to this troubled period in Burlington's history. And to that end, I worked that summer with the Attorney General Donovan in his office to create the St. Joseph's orphanage task force and to give it the charges that the Attorney General just described. Supporting the criminal investigation, reviewing the role of the institution's most responsible and where appropriate, holding them to account. And launching a restorative inquiry. I also directed the Burlington Police Department to devote the resources necessary to be a full partner in the AG's office criminal investigation. And we'll hear from Chief Murad momentarily about that work. I'm very appreciative for the way in which the department approached this important and somewhat unique task. In the two and a half years since this began, many people have participated in this work. I am above all grateful to the many former residents of St. Joseph's who have shown immense bravery by sharing their stories and engaging in the painful work of accountability. To those residents, I wanna say it took us far too long for you to be heard, but I hope that you will see the record of your experiences reflected in the 300-page report that is being released today and know that we hear you now. I also wanna express appreciation to Burlington's Community Justice Center for their work on the restorative inquiry to facilitator Mark Wenberg and to the many other professionals who dedicated themselves to this process. The report being issued today includes compelling work from the Burlington Police Department confirming that criminal abuse, as we just heard from the Attorney General, likely took place at the orphanage, although the statute of limitations for legally pursuing those actions has passed. Further, I've had the chance to meet here directly from read the writings of former residents at the orphanage. And I wanna be clear that I find the accounts of those former residents credible in the work of the Burlington Police Department compelling. I acknowledge that the institutions and individuals operating the orphanage failed many children here in Burlington and recognize that the whole community bears some responsibility for what happened as well. In coming forward and sharing their stories, these former residents of the St. Joseph's orphanage have given our community a great gift. It is the gift of fully knowing our history, our true history, so we can grapple it with it, honor it and learn from it. In conclusion, we started this process with the hope of forging some measure of closure to the questions and concerns about what happened at St. Joseph's. I am hopeful that with this report, with the AG's statement and with the restorative process underway that we are on our way towards that measure of closure. Attorney General, thank you again for the opportunity to work with you on this important project and for the chance to share a few words today. Thank you, Mayor Weinberg and thank you for your support and the city of Burlington's support. And as you said in your remarks, the historical accounting that must occur in order to acknowledge what occurred in the city of Burlington, the failures that occurred, as I said, by members of the law enforcement community. We appreciate your leadership. We appreciate your courage. We thank you for directing many city resources towards this endeavor, mostly, of course, not only the Burlington Community Justice Center, but the great men and women of the Burlington Police Department. Thank you, it's been a privilege for the city to be able to participate in this way. And again, thank you to the members of the city team who worked so hard and diligently to bring this work forward. So we'll hear from the Chief in a moment. Thank you. Thank you. Next, I'd ask Chief John Mirad of the Burlington Police Department to share a few words. Chief, I want to thank you for the outstanding work of the Burlington Police Department, in particular Detective Jim Tree, who I know is with you, Sergeant Michael Bellovo, who's with you. We appreciate not only the hard work, but the intensive and thoroughness of your work to address these decades old questions with that Chief. Thank you very much, Mr. Attorney General. And thank you to all of the members of this task force who worked so hard and so diligently over the past two years to bring some sense of closure and fruition to people who have suffered and experienced the legacy of this orphanage for far, far longer than the lifespan of this two year task force. I am here today with Lieutenant Detective Commander Jim Tree who is the Lieutenant in charge of our detective unit. And Sergeant Michael Bellovo, who as a detective was one of the key members of this task force in so far as the investigations that we did. I want to say from the onset that this was something that we approached knowing that the likelihood of being able to find corroborating evidence to the only crimes that could outlast the statute of limitations was unlikely. The time that had occurred since these allegations, the time that had passed, the fact that children's memories are different that we have evidence that has been lost, that many of the people who would have been potential suspects had either passed on or moved on made all of this a daunting proposition from the set. And yet one that we embraced from the beginning because we knew that it had to be done, that this was something that our community had, I think put off in some ways for too long. And frankly, although only one crime was outside the statute of limitations, we took the possibility of investigating and at least determining whether or not there was corroborating evidence for, whether there was a preponderance of evidence for other kinds of crime very seriously, despite the fact that we knew that no criminal prosecution would ever be attached to those. And in listening to 67 or more survivors and listening to the tales that they had to their truths and understanding the experiences, we hoped to be able to actually find out whether or not there was a sufficient amount of evidence for us to say, we do believe these stories. We believe this instance, we believe this particular survivor and we find that there are clear, consistent, coherent stories that transcend years at the orphanage, that transcend many different survivors and that give us a real picture of a pattern that was there that leaves us with no doubt that there were abuses that occurred at that orphanage that we did not fulfill as a community our obligation to the most vulnerable among us to keep them safe, to keep children in a world that is one of security and one of care and compassion. Nevertheless, the report speaks for itself in so far as the lengths that were pursued with regard to that investigation and speaks to the degree to which the investigation and the criminal justice outcome alone cannot be the only thing that we take from this. In fact, in many ways, I think the more important outcome is the outcome that is ongoing and being directed in the sense of restoration, in the sense of a process that allows for the reconciliation of which you spoke, Mr. Attorney General, the sense of bringing wholeness to the survivors of this orphanage. And frankly, survivors too of the investigation now because this was a process that had a great impact on the men and women who partook in it, especially the men and women here in the Burlington Police Department and our detective unit. They absorbed a lot of these stories on behalf of the survivors. And I think they're very proud. I am very proud of the work that they did and of being able to participate in a case like this, one that I think has a moral component for our community. Thank you, Chief. And thank you, Sergeant Vellavo and Detective Treven, your entire team for your good and hard work as part of this investigation. As not only I spoke about as you just heard the Chief and the Mayor, justice comes in many forms. And what is clear as we have dealt with these allegations of abuse from St. Joseph's orphanage in our community for decades is there has not been closure. There has not been reconciliation. There has not been restoration of what was lost for so many of these survivors. Their sense of self, their childhood, their self-esteem. As I said, I've had the privilege to interact and engage with many of them to listen to their stories. One gentleman in particular is part of this group that you'll hear about, talked about that this core group of the voices of St. Joseph's orphanage are the last surviving members of this orphanage that ran from 1850 to 1974 in the city of Burlington. We are attempting to do something different, to not do what our predecessors have done in what we were taught traditionally in our law enforcement careers, to stop. We choose to continue this journey on behalf of the survivors, not only with the men and women of the Burlington Police Department, the Vermont State Police, the city of Burlington, my office, the state attorney's office, but with restorative justice professionals who are charting a new course on behalf of the survivors. Mark Wenberg facilitates this group. He's with us today. Had asked Mark to say a few words to inform people about what restorative justice is and what the process that has been undertaken is as well. Thank you, Mark. Thank you. Your descendants for the work, all the work that you've done on this report. The orphanage restorative inquiry was launched in April of 2019 to understand and document the events of the St. Joseph orphanage through the voices, experiences, and stories of those most impacted, the former residents, and then facilitate inclusive processes of accountability, amends making, learning, and change. The inquiry is guided by a set of restorative principles and values that were generated both by our advisory team and the restorative inquiry participants and that are inherent to a restorative process. And these values and principles inform all of our work. I'd like to share a few of those inquiry principles and values today and also simultaneously acknowledge people, the people who are helping to make these same principles and values come to life in our process. First, the members of the advisory team have been dedicating their time, wisdom, skill, and care to this initiative. In the process, they have brought their best selves and highest values to this work. And along with the participants, a firm belief in the inherent dignity of all children and an uncompromising commitment that every child deserves love, care, and respect. I want to acknowledge the attorney general, T.J. Donovan and his staff and the members of the task force for the countless hours they have invested in this report. As you will read, the task force report commits us to a collective accountability to support the goals that the former children have put forward for themselves and their community. I also specifically want to acknowledge a member of the attorney general's team, victim advocate Amy Farr, who has been dedicating her full self to the support of inquiry and supporting the participants from the moment the inquiry was conceived. The restorative inquiry is a victim-centered process. Our primary goal is to facilitate the requests of the former children to the best of our abilities. As part of this, I want to acknowledge the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services for providing the financial support for this victim-centered inquiry. Accepting responsibility and making amends is an essential part of restorative process. And we have a lot of work ahead on this front. But I do want to acknowledge two early efforts. Jim Forbes from the Department of Children and Families helped guide an exhaustive search of the state archives to retrieve and then share any available family files with the former children. The UVM Medical Center also undertook a similar effort to reconnect participants with the medical files from their childhood and youth. This work was done in direct response to the request of the former children. In restorative justice, we often talk about how the impacts of harm ripple outward to impact communities. With St. Joseph's Orphanage, it's also clear that responsibility also ripples outward. I want to acknowledge the work of the city of Burlington, including the police department, Mayor Weinberger, CEDA director Luke McGowan, and CJC director Rachel Dolly, for not only holding this initiative, but also supporting the effort to make amends, including the establishment of a monument or healing space that acknowledges the countless children who passed through the orphanage. This, too, is a request of the former children. I also want to finish by talking briefly about the group guidelines in a restorative process. Group guidelines, in this case, are the agreements that the former children St. Joseph's Orphanage established and then uphold for themselves and each other. I want to share one guideline to our process, which was approved during our very first group meeting back in November of 2019. The participants of the restorative inquiry are the owners of their own story. The Task Force report includes many, many details of abuse and harm. These details, however, do not capture the voices and experiences of the former children. Our restorative inquiry is committed to creating multiple opportunities for these same former children to share their stories and experiences. And as a community, we have a long overdue obligation to listen, acknowledge, and learn. Finally, to close on a personal note, I'd like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the participants of the restorative inquiry for sharing their courage, vulnerability, strength, honesty, and the power of their collective voice. Thank you. Thank you, Mark. And we look forward to working with you as part of this restorative process. Mark, and I want to thank you for acknowledging me, Far, the victim advocate from the Attorney General's office, who has worked with the survivors every step of the way. She has done a tremendous job as an advocate, and we're proud that she is part of our team and proud that she is part of this effort. I also want to acknowledge Elizabeth Anderson, Dominica Padula, David Scherer, Charity Clark, and Lauren Yandel from my office who worked extremely hard, spent countless hours, not only doing the investigation, but getting, as the mayor said, I think a 290-page report ready for publication that I believe has been released just minutes prior to this press conference. So to my team, I say thank you. As Mark said, there are many survivors of the St. Joseph's orphanage. A group that has been formed, that has been working with Mark, as we said, the mayor and I and others, State's Attorney George, have been privileged to interact with this group. The voices of St. Joseph's orphanage, two representatives from that group are here with us today to share a statement and a few words Brenda Hannon and Walter Colte, our former residents of the orphanage. They are the representatives of the voices of St. Joseph's orphanage here today with that item that they offer a few remarks. Brenda, good to see you. Good to see you. Good afternoon, everyone. And thank you for joining us today. And thank you to the panel for all the hard work that you put into trying to uncover some bad things that happened at the orphanage. I'm going to read to you the collective statement from the former children of St. Joseph's orphanage. As you can tell, there's Walter Colte and I am Brenda Hannon. We were asked by the voices of St. Joseph's orphanage in an adult group of 30 plus members who are the last surviving generations of children abused at St. Joseph's orphanage in Burlington, Vermont to be their spokespersons. We were the forgotten ones, the children who had to suppress and hide our trauma just to survive all those years ago. Revisiting those memories and giving voice to the sexual, physical and mental abuse perpetrated on us required a reluctant courage none of us knew we had. On behalf of the voices of St. Joseph's, we are here today to have our voices heard and share our goals from the restorative justice inquiry process and what we hope will be accomplished as a result of our difficult testimony. Kaiser Permanente and the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a national study regarding ACE, adverse childhood experiences. They determined that children who endured severe trauma in their early lives will in adulthood likely experience substance abuse, obesity, depression, heart disease and other physical, social and behavior ailments resulting in a shortened lifespan. That has been true for many of us. Imagine what it must have been like to be a scared young child removed from your only family and sent into an institutional setting to live with other children from similarly difficult backgrounds. Shut off from contact with the outside world you were put in the custody of intolerant strangers with little or no training and child care. Some of them were actually sadistic. Life was unthinkable for thousands of children placed in that orphanage. We suffered physical, mental and in some cases sexual abuse. We were threatened and punishment was harsh, swift and extreme. We were beaten with rods locked in dark closets and trunks and forced to eat our own vomited food. Some were sexually molested by the same people professing to be agents of God. Catholic nuns, priests, admonites and other workers at the facility. Some children did not survive their time there. They simply disappeared. The orphanage was closed in the late 1970s without anyone ever bringing to light what really went on inside its walls. Then in the mid 1990s when some of our truths began to emerge some of us brought lawsuits against the diocese. Sadly, those cases were thrown out due to technicalities or legal grounds. Some former orphans were even paid hush money a pittance really to keep them quiet. The effect of these failed suits in the 1990s was profound. Having the hope that justice would be served only to have it dashed felt like being victimized all over again. We were suppressed and intimidated again by those of in power and standing in the community. Now, thanks to an extensive report produced in 2018 for Buzzfeed written by Christine the state attorney general's office has conducted an investigation into our claims about what happened at St. Joseph's Orphanage. The truth deserves to be aired. Cover up tactics should be widely exposed. We acknowledge that St. Joseph's Orphanage was a source of great pain and shame that was exposed. We acknowledge no one can give us back our childhood. Take away the pain and shame we endured nor untangle the mental and physical struggles many of us had had to deal with in our adult lives. However, we can and we will hold those accountable the Burlington Catholic diocese of Providence and, yes, the state's Child Protective Services Agency. They are responsible for what happened to us and to those who could not speak for themselves. We are determined to be heard and find justice. The voices of St. Joseph's Orphanage does seek reparation through the following actions we want. Number one, face-to-face meetings with the leaders of these named institutions and the members of the Catholic Church. Number two, we want to acknowledge the sisters of Providence, Catholic diocese of Burlington, Vermont Catholic Charities, and the state of Vermont Child Protective Services. We want and acknowledgment that what we say happened to us did indeed happen and a sincere apology. Number two, the above-named Catholic entities shall demonstrate the death of that person. Number three, we want to acknowledge the death of any former orphanage resident who requested. Releasing all records related to the operation and supervision of St. Joseph's Orphanage and providing all and complete family records, no redactions to any former resident who requested. Bishop Coyne said the church would cooperate with this community. But are withholding the release of the records to us, as well as Vermont Catholic Charities. Is this what he considers cooperation? Number three, we request that the Vermont state legislature upon reading the report, acknowledge the harm we experienced, and to better protect vulnerable people of all ages who face physical and mental abuse. Number four, by the release of the criminal investigative report today, the public will be informed about the horrors that went on at St. Joseph's. That it was covered up by the Catholic diocese for decades. And what may still be hidden remains unknown, but can be further uncovered. And encourage any individual who worked for or lived at the orphanage that has testimony to add to please come forward. By the release of this criminal investigative report today, we are moving in the right direction. We will have further reflections on the report in the coming days. Walter and Walter Coltey and I will help the media to contact those who want to tell their stories. If you cannot reach them. And we would encourage you to reach out to them. To find out more about the restorative justice. You can contact Mark Wenberg. Mark at community reentry.net. If you have any questions, please contact Mark Wenberg at Mark at community reentry.net. If you would like to receive a copy of the voices of St. Joseph's orphanages statement with the attached contact list, you can email me at BLHannon. 22. At gmail.com. Thank you very much. Walter. Thank you, Brenda. I told you you were good. You have to excuse me sometimes I get emotional. My wife is going to slap me in the head if I do. My name is Walter Coltey. I am one of the children of St. Joseph's orphanage. I am also a spokesman for the group. We are the last generation. Of children who are at St. Joseph's orphanages. And there are not many of us left. We have goals which you heard Brenda speak of. Our main goal. Is for this to never. And I mean never. Happened to another child. There were thousands of children who went through there. But only a few of us left. We would all like to thank. Attorney General Donovan. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your task force for all the hours they have spent. Helping us out. And investigating. St. Joseph's. A special thank you goes out to Amy fire. Rachel Jolly. Mark Wenberg. Because of the size of the report, we will not be able to give you a response today. On Wednesday, the 16th. We will not be giving you a response. We would like to invite you to return for our press release. Some of us will be ready to tell part of our stories. And we'll be open for questions. If you wish to attend, please contact Mark one bird. A community reentry dot net. Or call 802. 522. 7394. To be put on the list for the zoom entry. And get in close. Again, in closing, I would like to once again thank everyone. Who has helped us in our endeavors. I have one more thing to thank. And that is our group. They have. Extreme courage. They have come forward. They are willing to tell their stories. And they're willing to let you know what went on in St. Joseph's in all those years. I have met people who were there in the 40s. I have met people who were there myself. I was there in the 50s. The majority of the, of the group that we have left, I believe is in the 60s and 70s. They are all now willing to talk. And it takes a lot of courage for them to talk. I'm glad they're coming forward. I'm glad they're willing to speak out now. St. Joseph's was a terrible place. And it's, and it's all. Ready to come out now. It's all ready for people to hear. Thank you. Thank you, Walter. Thank you, Brenda. Thank you for. Not only attending. This press conference today, but thank you for your words. We appreciate it. As I said earlier. I've had the honor to. Be part of that group on a few occasions and. You're good, honest, decent people. We're still suffering. And we hope to alleviate that suffering through that restorative process. Thank you for being part of it today. So the restorative process. Continues. I know my office and other members of the task force. We'll continue to be part of that restorative process. The criminal case is closed. As always. We reserve the right to reopen. A criminal case. Again, the only. A viable charge given the statute of limitations would be an allegation of homicide, murder or manslaughter. And we reserve the right to reopen it should new information emerge. But today we conclude. That there is no criminal charge against any individual. Or any. Corporate entity or organization. I'm not sure how we're going to do that. I'm not sure how we're going to do that. But I trust that we'll figure that out. I'm here for you, boss. Thanks so much to our speakers. The question portion. For those of you who emailed Lauren Yandle, you're on a list and I will read the names in order of how you email Lauren and Lauren can help you. Be unmuted. So you can ask your question. First on our list for the Q&A portion is Wilson ring from the Associated Press. Wilson. Hi to, as they say here, can you hear me? Is this working correctly here? We can hear you. Okay, great. Fantastic. Lots of that's a pretty emotional. 45 minutes. We just went through here. Lots of questions they could ask. I guess I'll, the one I will pick up. TJ or whomever would like to answer this. Back when these things were occurring, was law enforcement aware of these things? As far as you know, and then they just chose to do nothing. Or was this just happening on its own? And why do you think it wasn't seen at the time. Or seen or investigated at the time. Because I think that. Our community and the institutions of the community, including law enforcement. Turn to blind eye. And that I think as Brenda and Walter talked about, and perhaps it was Brenda's words. They were, they were the forgotten children. And we did not see them. We did not hear them. And I can tell you in one of the meetings last week that. Certainly resonated with me. Was. That. These folks. Made. Complaints, but they weren't followed up on. I can't today tell you whether or not. You know, there's a document that exists. For that. But these are credible people. And from a prosecutorial standpoint. Coming in 60 years after the fact. Trying to piece together. A criminal case and to follow our rules. And to meet our evidentiary burdens, such as. Probable cause and proof beyond a reasonable doubt. It's extremely hard, if not impossible. Without any of that evidence. To pursue or to conduct an investigation. But I think that this was. Symptomatic of our society at the time. We didn't care. And I think part of this process. That we have to do is admit that hard truth that we failed these kids. And I think it's important that the institutions. Such as my office. And this is in the report. Where you have reflections from some of the stakeholders. Admit our failures. And part of that process. Of that admission. And that acknowledgement. It's a. Start to carve. That path so we can get to. That full accounting and justice. But I hope that answers your question. Wilson, but. I think we know. Historically that we've. We didn't do a good job on a number of these cases, whether you're talking about. Child abuse or sexual abuse. We've evolved significantly over the time. And we outlined. Many of those changes in the report. But we didn't do it then. And we should have. And that was a failure. Even more recently, you might recall that Sam Hemingway. And the free press wrote all those stories in the late 90s. They laid out a lot of these allegations. I mean. Why might it not be. Not have been picked up then. Which was obviously a lot more recently than 60 years ago. Yeah. You know, I can't speak. For that. Other than. We know that these were picked up. The attorney general's office did a report in 2002. No charges. Resulted from that investigation. And I think what we're trying to say today is. To acknowledge that failure by the state. Particularly in law enforcement. In child protective services. And to acknowledge it is to create space to have these conversations to bring about hopefully. You know, I mean, You know, You know, That healing. That is so desperately needed. From these survivors who look, you know, Walter said it best. You know, these folks are 67 years old. They're still dealing with this stuff. That we got to help them. Any way we can, even when we can't go through a traditional process that we. You know, We could. Well, that was the only course and what we're seeing is we can design a new course. Because we have to. Because folks like Brenda. And Walter deserve it. Hey, thank you very much. Thanks. Next on our list, we have Liam elder Connors from Vermont public radio. Hi, thanks for taking the time for this. TJ was wondering if there are any issues of civil liability that we're seeing outside of the realms of the statute of limitation. No, our review is a criminal investigation, Liam. And strictly a criminal investigation. Are you considering then any potential. Are they, I guess, are there other things outside of the criminal realm that you're considering pursuing based on. What seems like a lot of evidence and what you're saying that, you know, you seem to have indication that a lot of bad things have happened. So are you considering any other actions beyond. Out of the criminal realm. No, this was a criminal investigation. As I said, no charges have been filed. We consider this matter closed. Okay. And then in terms of the restorative process. You know, you said that you plan to still stay involved. And so, you know, I'm kind of wondering what role you can play. I mean, you know, you know, I think there's a sense of understanding of kind of the restorative justice process. As far as I know, it doesn't really have. Like the attorney general's officer prosecutors kind of getting involved in this way. And I know that there are some requests. That. The victims of these. You know, In this abuse there are requesting. So I'm wondering if, is there a way that you're thinking you can get involved to help them. Get the outcomes that they're looking for. You know, I think there's a lot of great discussions that have been requested. I can't guarantee that we can't force or mandate people to do that, but I'm hopeful. Whether there's legislation that we can work together on. Is something that I would expect to have these conversations with. As I've told folks, you know, I can't do anything in terms of. Money or demanding money. That's not my job. But I do think there are areas where we can, we can collaborate and I feel strongly that in the restorative process. We are a stakeholder in this again as part of that institution. That didn't always do his job historically. Great. Thanks DJ. Next on our list, we have Colin Flanders from seven days. Hi, thanks. So. Thank you. Attorney General Donovan, you had mentioned. You mentioned the statute of limitations multiple times. I'm just curious as to whether there was anything uncovered in this investigation that would have met the necessary burden of proof or not for the statute of limitations. In other words, are there any crimes that might have otherwise been able to have been pursued or not for that? I don't think I can answer that Colin, because of, there was no other corroborating evidence. As I said, as to the, as to the. Allegation of homicide. There was insufficient evidence. There was no corroborating evidence. There were other allegations of physical abuse and sexual abuse, but we didn't have corroborate corroborating evidence. To further that investigation more over. Those cases are barred. And the question is whether or not had work been done at the time, the allegations were made, could you per, could you meet your threshold of, of probable cause? And that is hard to say in the absence of that evidence. So, so just to confirm. So if, if today, those statute of limitations were removed, there would still be, it wouldn't be as clear as just moving forward then there's, there's more work that would need to be done. And I think, you know, we have to keep in mind that this is a criminal investigation and people who have been accused have procedural due process rights. And so I don't want to engage in, in a hypothetical other than to say, I think we had the report will speak for itself. Thanks. Thank you. Okay. Next on our list, we have Christine. Christine. Can you hear me? You can. Great. Thank you so much. TJ, what communication did the task force have in the last two years with the sisters of Providence? Did you get access to any of their records at the mother house? And how much is it the case that what you describe as the absence of credible evidence might be affected by access to the records of the sisters who ran the institution? Yeah. So the system of Providence did not cooperate with our investigation. I want to be clear. That is their right. People who are a target of criminal investigations have fifth amendment. Due process rights. There is no obligation or requirement that people cooperate with law enforcement. So I want to be very clear about. Under the law. What is required and what is not required. In the report. Christine. There's a section that details are back and forth in our attempts to. Gather documents. From the sisters of Providence. As you know, they are headquartered. Not in Vermont, not in this country. In Canada. We. There was a portion of the report that discusses that and some of the challenges. The legal hurdles, if you will. That arose as a result of that. But look, we have to make decisions based on the evidence that we have. And that is, that's our job. So I can't speculate. And I don't want to say that. And that is, that's our job. So I can't speculate. And say the absence of something suggests the existence of something. I can't do that. And I won't do that. We made a determination. Based on. The evidence we had. And it was insufficient evidence. Yeah. In the absence of accountability or participation from the sisters. What responsibility does this state have for placing children. In the care of the sisters for all those years? I think that's a great question. And it's a question that I think we're trying to. Grapple with when we talk about our child protective services. I think you heard Brendan Walter talk about. A desire to speak with representatives from. Vermont child protective services. And how this process worked and look. And how this process worked. Many kids were brought to the orphanage in many different ways. Some by their parents. And so that being said. There is a lot to, I think unpack through this process. And I think what we're attempting to do, and I think this goes back to the earlier question. Is to be, is to acknowledge that history. And the decisions that. And the lack of. Understanding the hell. The, as Brenda talked about the trauma. That we now know as ACEs adverse childhood experiences. That resulted. For many of these. What I'll call children who are now still today, 60 years later suffering from it. And so I think the historical legacy. Of the orphanage and that reconciliation and that. That acknowledgement. Is incredibly important as part of. I keep going back to this healing process. And I hope I'm not talking out of school, but. You know, you spend any time with Brenda Walter. Some other members. The pain and suffering is palpable. And. And this restorative process, I believe is, is, is. It's not, look, it's not going to be. The end all answer. I can't say that for Walter or Brenda. And I never would, but I do think part of that process and those acknowledgements are incredibly important and incredibly powerful. To give folks. Some peace and maybe some closure. I can't guarantee that, but that's what. That's what I believe in. So thank you. I'm happy to have you. Thank you. Next on our list is Kevin O'Connor from BT Digger. Kevin. Thank you. The, your predecessor. Bill Sorrell did a report in the early 2000s. Has that ever been made public? No. We have a synopsis. I believe it was from 2002 Kevin. We have a synopsis of it. We have a synopsis of it. In our report that you can read. Would the full report ever be made public? If it, if it were to be made public. I think there would be significant redactions. Given that it was a criminal review with no charge. And. With privacy interests. Being determined. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. We next have Julie Sherman from local 2244. Julie. Hi, can you hear me? Okay. We can hear you. Great. I wanted to know, is there a way for the community or at least plans in place for the community to bear witness to the survivor stories. Such as. You know, I think it's a good place to go so that we can remember. Their experiences. Yeah. Why don't I have a mark Walter or Brenda. Talk about that. I know there's been some discussion. About a monument and other. Ideas. Mark, do you want to jump in on that? Sure. Yeah, there is a committee of, of some of the participants of the restorative inquiry. What it's like to be a work of art. I'm going to talk about the work of art. And I'm going to talk about the work of art. The work of art. The developer of the current of the former orphanage site. And with the Burlington city parks department. To begin a dialogue around establishing a monument. That acknowledges the, the children who went through the orphanage. So that is work in progress. There also has been as another way of, of the public bearing witness. of the stakeholders to the inquiry and I hope that we will create some opportunities if they decide that they'd like to do so to share their reading also with the public. You can find the written materials of those on the restorative inquiry website, but it's all the more powerful when you hear it read in their own voices. So we hope to create some opportunities for that as well. Thank you. If I could ask one more question, what year did Ms. Brenda Hannah attend, what year was she a resident in the orphanage? I was at the orphanage from 1959 to the summer of 1968. Thank you. Okay, Jolie, if you're finished next on our list we have Pat Bradley from WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Pat, are you there? Hi. How are you today, TJ? I'm well, Pat. It's good to hear your voice. Good to hear you too. I think my question may overlap a couple of folks, especially Wilson's. You know, you initially had said when you started the press conference that in the case of the murder allegations you found no credible or insufficient evidence and therefore you can't place any charges. Yet this whole investigation started because of the BuzzFeed article and the witness accounts by the children who are now adults, and you said repeatedly that the adults are extremely credible. So I'm curious what kind of evidence beyond their witness accounts you would have to have to be able to pursue the murder charges. And when we had the trials back in the 90s, weren't there any evidence that you could dip into, you know, that would have remained from those? Yeah, I mean the biggest piece of evidence that I would say would be missing, Brenda, would be a body or a death certificate or any type of documentary evidence that this occurred, whether it be a police report, a coroner's report, as I said, a body. And I just want to clarify, I think what I said was there was insufficient evidence, which is somewhat of a legal phrase to bring these charges. And so in the absence of that, you are left with testimony of children and then you weigh the credibility of children in the time of 80, 70 years ago, whether or not that by itself is sufficient to pursue an investigation. The determination was that it was not. So I take it then, any missing records or suspiciously missing records don't are, you know, the statute of limitations, you're constrained by that even along those lines. No, we're not constrained by statute of limitations when it comes to murder. Okay, so if you ended up saying somebody ended up finding, you know, a record saying, you know, this child actually never left this orphanage. And so where is he, you could go back and re-investigate? Well, I want to be clear, Pat, that we have determined that there was insufficient evidence. Therefore, there is no charge of murder. And that we believe this case is closed. We considered it now a closed case. As in all cases, if new evidence were to emerge, we would assess that evidence and make the appropriate determination. Okay, thanks. Thank you, Pat. We have a couple of members of the media who are on but didn't say they had a question. I just want to make sure that we give them an opportunity. I think one dropped off, but we have one left. Mike Donahue, if you will unmute you, if you have a question, I just want to make sure you have a chance to answer a task. I take that as a no. I've got nothing. Okay. All right, thanks. TJ, that brings us to the end of our list of questions. So we're done with that portion. You're muted. Okay. Brenda or Walter, do you just want to make sure that you give out the information? I know you said you guys are going to hold a press conference on Wednesday, I believe, want to just reiterate that so folks have it? I got it, Brenda. Okay. I'll have it as soon as I put my glasses on. In my note, I put, if you wish to attend, please contact Mike Winberg at communityreentry.net or call his phone 802-522-7394 and he will put you on the list for the Zoom entry for Wednesday's meeting at 11 a.m. Thank you, Walter. With that, that concludes this press conference. I believe everybody who is on this has received a copy of the report. I think it's about 290 pages. If you have not, if you email our office, we will get you a copy of that report. With that, that concludes the press conference. Thank you for attending. We will send out a press release that will link to the report in a matter of minutes, so you can look for that as well. Thanks, everyone.