Alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse filed two new suits Thursday against the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

William Prather, a 61-year-old Colorado man, alleged that Monsignor Thomas J. O’Brien sexually abused him at a Catholic high school in 1961. O’Brien has been the target of numerous such suits in recent years.

“If I can, with my actions, prevent this kind of abuse and activity from being put upon other potential victims in the future, it’s worth it,” Prather said in a phone interview.

A lawyer representing O’Brien could not be reached for comment.

Prather contended in his suit that O’Brien abused him at least five times, telling him that it was a “strategy to dissuade (Prather) from masturbation.”

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/681406.html

The Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph apologized Wednesday for the “fully unacceptable behavior� of priests that led to a $10 million settlement of sexual abuse lawsuits.

Bishop Robert W. Finn said the diocese had agreed to the tentative settlement and to steps that would help prevent a repeat of abuses cited by 47 victims who filed lawsuits against a total of 12 priests. Finn has to consult two diocesan boards before signing the final agreement.

The plaintiffs said they had been molested as youths, mostly between the 1950s and the early 1980s. Some victims said the diocese tried to cover up the abuses and moved priests from one parish to another, rather than deal with the problem.

Over the years, all the defendants reached by The Kansas City Star denied the accusations.

Finn opened a news conference Wednesday with the apology and expressed compassion for victims. He took “institutional accountability for these sad events� of the past.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/758453.html


The Bishop of the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Diocese apologizes over the scandal involving metro priests who sexually abused children and teens.


http://www.nbcactionnews.com/news/local/st...af9&rss=764

Priests that have molested should be treated as other molesters in the judicial system.