Friday, February 04, 2011

'Vatican rejects sex abuse lawsuit' at a Wisconsin school

The attorney for a man who says he was sexually abused decades ago by a now-deceased priest at a Wisconsin school for the deaf says the Vatican has refused to be served with a lawsuit over the matter.

The Vatican rejected a lawsuit brought by a man who was allegedly sexually abused by a priest at St. John's School for the Deaf in Milwaukee, according to the victim's attorney.

According to the victim's attorney, the Vatican rejected a lawsuit brought by the man who was allegedly sexually abused.

HIGHLIGHTS
 
The suit requested to name Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinals Bertone and Sodano as defendants for allegedly covering up Father Lawrence Murphy's abuse, but the request was sent back.

St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson said his firm tried to serve the lawsuit at the Vatican last week, but it was returned by Federal Express. forbes.com

The lawsuit contends Pope Benedict XVI and others conspired to keep quiet decades of abuse allegations against the Rev. Lawrence Murphy.

Anderson's client, 61-year-old Terry Kohut is one of up to 200 people allegedly abused by Murphy at the Milwaukee-area school between 1950 and 1974.

FACTS & FIGURES
 
Vatican attorney Jeffrey Lena says the lawsuit should have been served through diplomatic channels.

Anderson's client is a deaf man from Illinois who alleged that the late Rev. Lawrence Murphy molested him while Murphy worked at a Milwaukee-area school for the deaf.

Murphy, who died in 1998, has been accused of sexually abusing about 200 boys at the school from 1950-1974. sctimes.com

The Catholic sex abuse cases are an ongoing series of scandals in the Catholic Church related to sex crimes committed by Catholic priests and members of religious orders.

In the United States, churches have paid more than $2 billion in compensation to victims.