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Church Seeks To Remove Negligence Sex Abuse Suits To Federal Court

November 8, 2005

In its first official response to nearly a dozen claims of clergy sexual abuse in which it is accused of negligence, the Archdiocese of Denver asked the case be moved to federal court because of constitutional questions surrounding claims it did nothing regarding a priest who had been accused of abusing children. At least 10 men have filed lawsuits in Denver District Court alleging they were abused as boys by Harold Robert White starting in the 1960s. The lawsuits name only the archdiocese as the defendant.

In court documents filed in U.S. District Court regarding two of the lawsuits, the church asks the cases be heard in federal court because the issues are 'inextricably intertwined with the First Amendment,' which guarantees the right to freely practice religion. It said a judicial evaluation of the archdiocese's policies regarding clergy misconduct requires the court to pass judgment on the archdiocese's canonical function as the chief ecclesiastical executive and chief ecclesiastical legislator.

The attorney for the plaintiffs has filed lawsuits against other archdioceses across the country, including 23 claims of negligence against the Archdiocese of Miami which was settled last year for $3.4 million. In other cases, the Archdiocese of Portland filed for bankruptcy protection after settling about 130 abuse lawsuits dating from 1950 through 2003 for $53 million. The dioceses of Tucson, Ariz., and Spokane, Wash., also filed bankruptcy claims because of sex abuse allegations. The Boston Archdiocese has agreed to sell some assets to pay for multimillion-dollar settlements.

In 1991, the Denver Archdiocese became one of the first in the nation to develop an abuse policy requiring all allegations be reported immediately to law enforcement officials. It has paid $997,730 in counseling and settlement costs to alleged victims since 1950.