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Monday, June 05, 2006

Ind. Courts - "Former priest named in new abuse suit" [Updated]

Related to the ILB entry Saturday headed "Ind. Decisions - 'Lawsuit against church dismissed: Statute of limitations expired, judge rules;' General Assembly partially blamed," is this story this afternoon by Robert King of the Indianapolis Star, reporting:

A ninth lawsuit against former Indianapolis priest Harry Monroe alleges he abused a teen altar boy in the 1980s at a southern Indiana parish.

The suit, filed today in Marion Circuit Court, also alleges that the Archdiocese of Indianapolis committed fraud because it was aware of the priest’s abusive tendencies when it put Monroe in the post of youth minister.

The suit, filed Monday on behalf of “John Doe OD” by Minnesota attorney Pat Noaker, alleges the abuse took place at the St. Michael parish, in the Ohio River town of Cannelton, from approximately 1982 to 1983.

Here is the theory behind the new suit:
The filing comes after a circuit judge in southern Indiana tossed out 23 abuse cases on Friday involving a different priest because he reasoned they were filed after the statutes of limitation had expired. Clark Circuit Judge Daniel F. Donahue ruled that plaintiffs have to sue within two years of their 21st birthdays.

In a press conference today, Noaker said he was convinced that the statutes had not expired with regard to his cases against Monroe. Most of the abuse allegations center on events decades ago. But Noaker said his clients recognized the injuries from them only recently.

[Updated 6/6/06] An AP story today by Ken Kusmer adds this information:
On Friday, Clark Circuit Judge Daniel F. Donahue dismissed a lawsuit brought by 23 plaintiffs who claimed to have been molested by the late Rev. Albert Deery while they attended Jeffersonville's St. Augustine Elementary School during the 1950s and 1960s.

Donahue said Indiana's statute of limitations required the plaintiffs to have sued within two years of their 21st birthdays, but none did.

Noaker, however, said the lawsuit he filed yesterday should go forward because Indiana law allows plaintiffs six years to file civil claims once they discover fraud, and the alleged fraud in this case was not discovered until last November.

It was not until then that the plaintiff learned the archdiocese had shuffled Monroe from parishes in Indianapolis to Terre Haute and finally to Perry County as it received newer allegations against him.

"This man was clearly … abusing children at every stop," he said.

"You can't put someone out there, put a collar on them, and then say, 'How were we to know?' "

Noaker also included fraud charges in some of the previous lawsuits brought by other plaintiffs.

The archdiocese issued a statement that said it urges people to come forward if they have been a victim of sexual misconduct by anyone ministering on behalf of the Church.

It also said it has published information about the lawsuits concerning Monroe in its newspaper, The Criterion, which is delivered to all Catholic households, and in letters and bulletin inserts made available to the parishes where Monroe served.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 5, 2006 06:49 PM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions