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| Couldn't find a picture of Feeney so here's a photo of St. Mary's in the Mountains Church in Nevada |
CARSON CITY – The Nevada Supreme Court has refused to dismiss a suit filed by a Las Vegas man who says he was sexually abused as a teenager by a Catholic priest from Wisconsin.Las Vegas Sun
The man filed suit in 2008 alleging that Catholic priest John P. Feeney sexually molested him twice as a 13-year old boy while he was a student at St. Francis de Sales parish in Las Vegas.
His civil suit names the Roman Catholic Bishop of Las Vegas and its successors, the Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas, the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay Wisconsin and Feeney. The suit claims Feeney was an agent of the Wisconsin church.
The Catholic Diocese of Green Bay sought a pre-trial dismissal of the case on grounds there was no jurisdiction in Nevada over the church in Wisconsin and the statute of limitations had expired because the suit wasn't filed until 24 years after the alleged incident.
District Judge Valorie Vega refused to grant dismissal of the case against the diocese in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court agreed and said there are still factual issues to be litigated.
Feeney served as a priest in Green Bay from 1952 to 1983, when he was discharged from his duties after sexual abuse allegations arose.
Feeney went to California, then came to Las Vegas, where he was appointed associate pastor of St. Francis de Sales in 1984.
Feeney was convicted of four counts of sexually abusing minors in Wisconsin in 2004 and sentenced to 10 years in prison in that state.
The Catholic Diocese of Wisconsin maintains Nevada doesn't have jurisdiction over it since it discharged Feeney, who then moved west.
The suit in Las Vegas says Feeney put his hand on the thigh of the boy and kept it there during an impromptu confession. The second alleged incident occurred in 1985, when the priest allegedly put his arm around the boy and slid his hand up the boy's thigh under his shorts and touched his genitals, according to the suit.
So the interesting fact here is that Feeney is already in jail.... From JSOnline:
Feeney was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2004 for sexually assaulting the Merryfields in 1978 when he was assigned to St. Nicholas Parish in Freedom.Sooo, I'm not sure I understand this. The first article states Green Bay dismissed Feeney in 1983 and the incidents took place in Las Vegas in 1984 and 1985 when Feeney was no longer a member of the diocese or in the same state.....
5 comments:
It's the money, honey.
More Dioceses, more insurers, more MONEY.
Right, but how can he even claim to sue the diocese if he didn't work for the diocese? That judge must be a little 9th Circuit if ya know what I mean.
According to this, in 1983, after a long sordid history, Fr. Feeney was told by Bp. Wycislo to leave the Green Bay diocese, giving him three months to find another, and promising a letter of support., saying “new people, new faces, would be in (Feeney’s) best interest.” Also, that if Feeney failed to find another job, he’d be sent to a treatment center or face prosecution.
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news3/2002_05_31_Wideman_PublicRecords_John_P_Feeney_etc_1.htm
That's awful John that Feeney would not have been brought up on charges then, when the first incident occurred in 1968. The creep should be behind bars. I hope the bishops have learned (and I think they have at least somewhat) that these grave crimes must be brought to civil authorities immediately.
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