An alleged victim and his attorney have filed
a lawsuit against the Diocese of Charlotte claiming sexual abuse years
ago by priest which also alleges the Diocese tried to cover up the
various incidents.
Attorney Seth Langson spoke outside the
Mecklenburg County courthouse Tuesday afternoon about the child sexual
abuse and cover up civil lawsuit which alleges that Father Richard
Farwell began sexually abusing a teenage boy at St. Ann's Catholic
Church in Charlotte during the early 1980s.
The suit says Farwell continued to molest the
boy at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Salisbury and also in the North
Carolina mountains.
The plaintiff claims he confessed to Farwell
about a separate incident involving sexual abuse and that's when Farwell
allegedly began abusing him as well.
The victim is now in his 40s and claims that
he was abused in a room behind the alter at St. Anns, according to
attorney Langson and attorney Leto Copeley, who spoke to WBTV for
about five minutes.
The plaintiff claims he came forward now because he
just recently learned of the alleged cover up.
"He did not learn until recently that of the
involvement of the Diocese in covering up its knowledge of the abuse of
young boys under the care of Father Farwell and of its sending Father
Farwell for treatment of sexual abuse," said Copeley.
The suit alleges the Diocese sent Farwell to a
Massachusetts treatment center for sexual addiction in 1985, and
rehired him in 1988 without reporting it to church members.
The suit, which seeks damages in excess of
$10,000, also alleges the Diocese has concealed child sex crimes by
clergy since the Diocese was founded, and that such cover ups continue
now.
David Haines of the Charlotte Diocese told
WBTV they have not been served with the paperwork yet and don't want to
comment until they receive the lawsuit.
Farwell served as a priest until 2002 when
criminal child sex abuse charges abuse were filed against him in Rowan
County in a different case.
In November 2004, Farwell pled no-contest to
"contributing to the delinquency of a minor" and he received a 181-day
suspended sentence.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit also reported the alleged sexual abuse to police in 2002, but the charges were dropped.
Farwell has lived in Pompano Beach, Florida, since his arrest in 2002.
Farwell was ordained in 1981 and has served
at St. Ann's Catholic Church/School and Charlotte Catholic High School
(Charlotte, NC); Sacred Heart Catholic Church/School (Salisbury, NC);
St. Aloysius Catholic Church (Hickory, NC); St. Dorothy's Catholic
Church (Lincolnton, NC); Queen of the Apostles Catholic Church (Belmont,
NC); St. Joseph's Catholic Church (Burgaw, NC) and Transformation
Mission Church (Wallace, NC).
Farwell has also resided in Massachusetts
and Florida.