As read in the Delco Times, archdiocesan officials, including the Archbishop of Philadelphia, Cardinal Justin Rigali, are named in a lawsuit that alleges a connection between a priest’s sexual abuse and a man’s mental illness.
The sexual abuse allegedly occurred between a former priest in the Delaware County and a Philadelphia boy.
The father of the alleged victim has filed the suit on behalf of his mentally disabled son in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. The lawsuit stated that approximately 17 years ago then-Reverend R.L.B. abused the victim wile employed in the rectory of Our Lord Parish in Philadelphia.
R.L.B. was the parochial vicar at the parish from December of 1993 to June of 2004.
The plaintiff, now 32 and a resident of Phoenix, AZ., will remain nameless as he was a minor when the abuse allegedly occurred. He is also allegedly suffering from mentally illness as a result of the sexual abuse.
The lawsuit is seeking over $50,000 for personal injury as a result of conspiracy to endanger children and fraud. Named in the suit include R.L.B., the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua – who served as the archbishop of Philadelphia from 1987 to 2003 – and the Rev. Monsignor William Lynn – who served as a secretary for Bevilacqua and was accountable for investigating allegations of clerical sexual abuse.
R.L.B., now 73, was suspended in September 2005. In 2007 an archdiocesan review board found him to have sexually abused a minor from the late 60s into the early 70s.
R.L.B. has denied all of the allegations and remains on administrative leave. He can no longer perform priestly duties, dress as a priest and is allegedly living in a private residence in Perryville, Md.
Archdiocesan spokesman Kenneth Gavin said, “(R.L.B.) is currently monitored by archdiocesan officials regularly.”
Plaintiff’s attorneys include Dan Monhan of Chester County and Marci Hamilton of Bucks County. The two attorneys are also working with the internationally known sexual abuse litigation expert, Jeff Anderson.
Anderson is based in St. Paul, Minn.
The lawsuit claims that archdiocesan officials knew of R.L.B.’s proclivity to sexually abuse boys – up to five years before the plaintiff was abused.
The suit also states that R.L.B. was sent to St. John Vianney Center several times – the center, located in Downingtown, Chester County, is a facility used for treating clerics with behavioral disorders.
The suit states that R.L.B. was sent to the center on July 22, 1992 for another psychological evaluation. From there he entered sexual abuser treatment for ten months.
Therapists at the center found that he “presented a future risk of re-offending and sexually abusing other boys.”
The suit reads, “Despite those dire warnings, Cardinal Bevilacqua appointed (R.L.B. ) as the assistant pastor of Resurrection parish where (R.L.B. ) sexually abused the plaintiff.”
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