As the Archdiocese of Philadelphia deals with 21 of their priests suspended to investigate allegations of the sexual abuse of minors, Jeff Anderson, a sexual-abuse attorney from Minnesota, has added a lawsuit against the diocese, on behalf of a man that states he was abused as an adolescent by a now-deceased priest, as reported by the Daily Delco Times.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced the suspension of the 21 priests a week ago.
On March 14 Anderson announced that he would file the civil complaint on March 16. He is representing a 49 year-old man, of Delaware County, that wishes to remain anonymous.
Reverend John Kline, since deceased, has been named in the lawsuit for abusing Anderson’s client while he was an adolescent. Kline was based at Philadelphia’s St. Francis Xavier parish and Roman Catholic High School at the time of the alleged abuse.
Anderson told reporters that Kline’s name is not on either of the two Philadelphia grand jury reports that are currently investigating clerical abuse.
Officials from the diocese were unable to contribute additional information at press time regarding Kline, or his service to the church.
Anderson’s law firm released a press release that read, “The lawsuit will allege that archdiocese officials conspired to endanger the safety of the plaintiff when they actively concealed knowledge of Kline’s previous offenses, lied to parishioners and created a sham sexual abuse victim assistance program for the archdiocese.”
Lawyers Dan Monahan, of Chester County, and Marci Hamilton, of New York, will assist Anderson in the case.
On February 10 a Philadelphia grand jury issued a report that charged four men, in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, with sexual assault. They have since been arrested and await a preliminary hearing on March 25.
A week after the grand jury report, archdiocesan officials put three of the priests named on administrative leave while they reviewed the sexual allegations. Two of the three had served in Delaware County parishes in the past.
Gina Maisto Smith has been hired to represent the diocese.
Maisto Smith has experience prosecuting child sexual abuse cases as a former Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney.
She will be reviewing 37 cases of concern that were cited by the grand jury.
Of the 21 other priests that were cited, six have ties in Delaware County – and were all put on administrative leave effective March 8.
This is the second grand jury convened, by Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, that has had to address clerical sex abuse.
In 2003 the former Philadelphia District Attorney, Lynne Abraham, launched a grand jury investigation that found that 63 priests had allegedly abused children dating back to the 1940s. Forty-three of those priests had ties to the Delaware County.
But none of the 63 priests faced lawsuits due to the statute of limitations. Since 2006 the statute has been changed to allowing those citing abuse to be up to the age of 50 to file.
If a member of the clergy has sexually abused you, you may gain monetary compensation in a lawsuit. Contact a personal injury lawyer to discuss your case with discretion.