Latest News 2011 September Latest Abuse Lawsuit Makes Almost a Dozen Lodged Against Same Priest

Latest Abuse Lawsuit Makes Almost a Dozen Lodged Against Same Priest

Ten men have been joined by an 11th in filing lawsuits that accuse the same retired Catholic priest for serial molestations that occurred when each was a boy, throughout parishes in the Willamette Valley, as reported by Oregonian.

The latest suit, from a 34 year-old plaintiff, is filed in Portland's U.S. District Court.

The retired priest, D.D., now 77 years old, is accused of abusing the plaintiff in instances from the late 1980s through to the early 1990s.  D.D. was posted to a parish in Silverton during the alleged abuse.

Named in the suit are the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon and the Roman Catholic archbishop of Portland - and his successors.  D.D. is not named as a defendant.  

D.D., now reportedly living in Gresham, has denied all previous allegations of sexual abuse.  He did not answer the telephone in his home to comment on the current charges.

D.D. retired in 2001.  When allegations of child sexual abuse were later made, per archdiocese officials, D.D. was put on a permanent leave.  

D.D., then striped of his abilities to perform any priestly duties, was never charged of any crimes.  Bud Bunce, spokesman for the archdiocese, said, "Obviously, we could say there were enough allegations there that the church felt there were some violations."

In July of 2005 D.D. submitted to a deposition of allegations.  However, he chose - over 80 times - to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.

Of the current lawsuit, Portland-based attorney Jason Kafoury represents the plaintiff.   Kafoury said that his client attests that his intimate adult relationships have been forever harmed by what was inflicted upon him as a young boy.  

Kafoury said, "Most of the abuse happened with (D.D.) taking underage boys to his private cabin near Detroit Lake over the course of 30-plus years.  And how the Catholic Church allowed 12 and 13-year-old boys to go alone on camping trips, or overnight stays, with a priest is unimaginable."

In the suit, Kafoury accuses D.D. of gaining both the support, and permission, of the plaintiff's parents in being alone with their son.  Specific allegations of abuse are not listed in the complaint.

Kafoury's client is seeking $3 million for pain, suffering and emotional trauma.

Gary Bisaccio, a West Linn lawyer that has represented many other men in their allegations of abuse against D.D., said that those cases occurred in Salem, Corvallis, Portland and Hillsboro.  But, the time of the abuse was restricted to the 60s through the 80s.   Bisaccio, of the latest lawsuit, said, "Now the allegations span four decades."

Other accusers, from Portland's St. Francis of Assisi Parish, claimed that D.D. required the boys to strip down and wrestle with him wearing only their under shorts, and later, to join him naked in a sauna.

Another accuser claimed that he was forced to use a leather strap on the priest's bare back, accompany him to a beach cabin, where he was rendered immobile and sexually abused.

Accusations against D.D. ranged from fondling to oral and anal sex.

In July of 2004 the Archdiocese of Portland allegedly filed for bankruptcy protection to avoid fighting a $125 million lawsuit for priest abuse.  The plan, approved in April 2007, paid over $50 million to at least 75 claimants of sexual abuse by the Roman Catholic clergy - with $20 million more set aside for any future claims.

Contact a personal injury lawyer if a member of the clergy has abused you.  Even if the church has filed bankruptcy, or it has been decades since the abuse occurred, you may have viable a case.

Categories: Priest Abuse

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