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Fifth lawsuit brought against former
priest
Plaintiff alleges archdiocese knew of abuse charges as it
moved Harry Monroe
By Ken Kusmer/Associated
Press/Indianapolis
The Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis knew
about six allegations of child sexual abuse against a priest when it placed him
in a rural parish where he molested again, a lawsuit filed Wednesday
alleged.
The archdiocese, meanwhile, fended off a call by an abuse
survivors group to appoint a non-attorney as its staff member who coordinates
aid to sexual abuse victims.
The lawsuit, the fifth in two months to
accuse the Rev. Harry E. Monroe of molesting young male parishioners, was filed
in Marion Superior Court against the former priest and the 240,000-member
archdiocese. The unidentified plaintiff alleges Monroe molested him at St. Paul
Parish in Tell City over the two years before the archdiocese removed him from
ministry in 1984. The litigation against Monroe and the archdiocese took a
darker turn with the latest complaint, however, because it alleges church
leaders were aware of at least six molesting complaints against Monroe when they
transferred him to arguably the most remote corner of the 39-county diocese, a
small Ohio River community midway between Louisville, Ky., and
Evansville.
He was taken and placed and in a rural parish where I'm sure
the archdiocese thought that he couldn't get them in trouble, said attorney
Patrick Noaker of Minneapolis, who represents each of the plaintiffs suing
Monroe.
The archdiocese issued a statement saying it could not comment on
the sexual abuse lawsuit - the 13th currently in which it is a defendant - but
it expressed its sympathy for the victims.
We are especially hurt when
we read or hear allegations of sexual abuse of children by our own clergy, the
statement said. It urged abuse victims to contact police and Suzanne Yakimchick,
the archdiocese's chancellor and its lead officer for assisting
victims.
Monroe now lives in Nashville, Tenn., and a telephone number
listed there for a Harry E. Monroe has been disconnected. A message was left
seeking comment from Brian Ciyou, an Indianapolis attorney representing Monroe
in other lawsuits.
The lawsuit alleged six minor boys reported abuse by Monroe
to the archdiocese between 1979 and 1981. Noaker said in an interview the six
all were parishioners at Terre Haute's St. Patrick Parish while Monroe was
assigned there and that they and their families together reported the abuse to
church officials.
The plaintiffs in the earlier lawsuits allege Monroe
molested them while he was assigned to St. Andrew and St. Catherine parishes in
Indianapolis in the late 1970s.
Noaker said he expected to file claims on
behalf of other alleged victims in Tell City and Terre Haute.
A victims
group, meanwhile, distributed a letter it sent to Archbishop Daniel Buechlein on
Wednesday calling on him to replace Yakimchick as its victim assistance
coordinator because she is an attorney.
It's inherently problematic and
deceptive to employ a lawyer in this capacity, especially given the fragile
condition of many who approach the church to get help or report a child
molester, said the letter from the Survivors Network of those Abused by
Priests.
Such positions instead should be filled with therapists,
the letter said.
The archdiocese said that Yakimchick, in addition to
being an attorney, is a trained pastoral care worker with experience at an
Indianapolis mental health center and as a welfare case
worker. |
