« Ind. Courts - Allen Circuit Court Hearing Officer Appointed | Main | Courts - "Ohio Supreme Court upholds cap on damages" »
Friday, December 28, 2007
Ind. Decisions - More on "Church’s admission of abuse not enough, accuser says"
Updating this ILB entry from Dec. 18th, which included this quote from a story by Robert King in the Indianapolis Star:
The scene today in Marion Superior Court could become increasingly common: the archdiocese squaring off in court against a former parishioner who claims the church knew the Rev. Harry Monroe was a danger to children but did nothing to spare them from harm.Today Jon Murray of the Star reports:In addition to John Doe NM, 12 men who claim to have been abused by Monroe as boys have sued the archdiocese. Today, attorney Jay Mercer asked Judge David A. Shaheed to rule in favor of the archdiocese on the basis that the claim was filed too late. He said it should have been made by the time John Doe NM, now in his early 40s, turned 20.
Before making that case, Mercer did what the archdiocese had denied in its initial responses to the lawsuits — he acknowledged the former priest’s abuse. * * *
Today, [John Doe NM’s attorney, Pat Noaker] argued that the case should go forward because the six-year time limit on fraud cases should have begun ticking only after John Doe NM learned, in 2005, that the archdiocese knew of Monroe’s abusive tendencies before assigning him to St. Catherine’s Parish.
For the archdiocese to assign Monroe a position in a parish where he had free access to children, Noaker said, was akin to actively representing that Monroe was a person of good character and of no threat to children. That, he said, is the essence of fraud.
A judge has refused to throw out a lawsuit claiming the Archdiocese of Indianapolis covered up abuse by a former Catholic priest three decades ago.The ILB would be pleased to post a copy of Marion Superior Court Judge David A. Shaheed's Dec. 20th opinion, if someone is able to email or fax it to me.The ruling by Marion Superior Court Judge David A. Shaheed means the suit could be the first of 13 against the archdiocese to move forward to trial. It alleges fraud, arguing the archdiocese knew of previous abuse by the Rev. Harry Monroe when it moved him in 1976 to St. Catherine's Parish in Indianapolis.
No one disputes that the plaintiff suffered abuse, Shaheed wrote. The former altar boy at the Southside parish is called John Doe NM in court documents.
His abuse-related claims have been withdrawn, since the statute of limitations ran out long ago. But the judge ruled Dec. 20 against the archdiocese's motion for summary judgment, which sought dismissal of the suit, writing that the six-year statute of limitations on fraud began running only in 2005, when the plaintiff learned that the archdiocese had known of other abuse before Monroe's transfer.
"The court has recognized that placing a priest in a parish and giving him responsibility for kids is a representation that that priest is safe around children," said Pat Noaker, a St. Paul, Minn., attorney representing all 13 plaintiffs. "What we won is the right of the plaintiff to press his case." * * *
Noaker said 10 other cases involve similar fraud claims that could be affected favorably by Shaheed's ruling. The John Doe NM case is the first to survive a summary judgment challenge; no trial date is set, but Noaker anticipates going to trial by late 2008.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 28, 2007 07:26 AM
Posted to Indiana Decisions