No end in sight for Catholic diocese's troubles over abuse
AMBAN
No end in sight for Catholic diocese's troubles over abuse
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=6035308&nav=4QcS
BURLINGTON, Vt. -- The number of lawsuits accusing priests in Vermont's Roman
Catholic Diocese of sexual abuse continues to grow, as do the church's financial
worries.
The church faced 16 lawsuits about alleged sex abuse _ much of it dating back
decades _ when it reached a $985,000 settlement of one of the suits last April.
Now it faces 26 civil cases and is following the case of a priest facing a
current criminal charge.
Rev. Stephen J. Nichols, 47, is scheduled to go on trial in April in St. Albans
for felony lewd and lascivious conduct for allegedly fondling a naked
18-year-old man in 2005.
Criminal charges are not possible in many of the cases, some dating to the
1970s, because Vermont's statute of limitations for the crimes involved has
expired, authorities say.
Meanwhile, the diocesan deficit, $127,947 at the start of the last fiscal year,
has grown tenfold because of the lawsuits. Legal wrangling abounds. The church's
longtime lawyer has just made a third bid to get the judge hearing the cases
replaced.
Some of the church's accusers want to know why the cases are taking so long to
move forward, said the lawyer representing all 26, Jerome O'Neill of Burlington.
"The diocese has no interest in getting these cases resolved promptly," he said.
"It uses any procedural mechanism that will slow a case down."
The diocese says it wants a just outcome.
"I certainly don't think it's ethical for me to deny my client the right to have
issues reviewed in the interest of due process," church lawyer David Cleary of
Rutland says. "This is taking its normal course. The normal time to trial is
somewhere between two to three years after a suit is filed."
While the diocese is the defendant in the lawsuits alleging abuse, it is the
plaintiff in another. The church is suing its former insurance company to
recover costs stemming from some of the lawsuits, saying it had a comprehensive
liability policy with the United States Fidelity and Guaranty Co. from 1973 to
1978.
The company, now part of the St. Paul Travelers Companies of St. Paul, Minn.,
has agreed to pay legal fees for cases in which alleged acts took place during
the time the policy was in force. But it says it should not have to cover costs
stemming from abuse by priests if it's proven the church continued to employ the
priest even when it knew of past misconduct.
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Information from: Rutland Herald, http://www.rutlandherald.com/