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Friday, April 11, 2008
Ind. Decisions - Court of Appeals rules case against ex-priest can go on
Sue Loughlin of the Terre Haute Trib-Star reports today:
An Indiana appeals court has given a green light to a civil lawsuit that alleges a former Catholic priest sexually abused a boy and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis covered up the priest’s prior history of sexual abuse.Presumably this was an appeal from Marion Superior Court Judge David A. Shaheed's Dec. 20th opinion, referenced in this ILB from Dec. 28, 2007, including this quote from a story by Jon Murray in the Indianapolis Star:In a two-page order issued Monday, the Indiana Court of Appeals declined to hear an appeal by lawyers for the Indianapolis Archdiocese.
It gave no reason for the decision.
The defendant in the case is Harry E. Monroe, a former Catholic priest accused of molesting numerous boys between 1974 and 1984 at churches in Indianapolis, Terre Haute and Perry County in southern Indiana.
The archdiocese has been named as a co-defendant. The lawsuit accuses the archdiocese of fraud, alleging the church deceived members of an Indianapolis parish that Monroe was suited to minister to young boys when it knew he had a history of molesting boys.
“Placing a priest in a church with access to children in a way represents to a parish that the priest is safe,” said Patrick Noaker, the attorney representing the victim. “If church officials know differently, as in this case … It is fraud to the parish families and children.”
Archdiocese attorneys claim that the alleged victim of Monroe waited too long to take legal action and that his case should be tossed out.
In reaction to the Court of Appeals decision, Greg Otolski, archdiocese spokesman, stated, “I think there are probably still several steps in the legal process.” * * *
Noaker said he expects the archdiocese to challenge the lawsuits “at every place they can.”
The Court of Appeals is saying in its order that “this issue is not proper for appeal at this time. The trial court had gotten it right,” Noaker said.
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.Former priest Harry E. Monroe is referenced in a number of earlier ILB entries.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.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 11, 2008 08:33 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions