Diocese wants more time
- Font Size:
- Default font size
- Larger font size
By Dustin Lemmon | Thursday, February 01, 2007 |
Documents filed this week in the Diocese of Davenport bankruptcy case include the names of 21 priests and others, as well as two church institutions, that have been accused of committing sexual abuse.
The names are included as an exhibit in a court motion that outlines church plans for notifying the public about how to file claims.
Davenport attorney Craig Levien, who has represented several abuse victims in court, said although victims were already familiar with the names, the list is the first of its kind to be published.
“I think the filing is rather significant in that it lists some of the priests, not all of the priests,” he said. “I don’t know that we’ve ever had all of the individuals named like they are here.”
Levien estimated there are at least seven or eight more priests not named in the filing but noted the list is not intended to be exclusive.
According to one of the motions filed this week by both creditors and the church, the deadline for clergy abuse victims to file claims against the Diocese of Davenport would be extended from Feb. 6 to July 17.
The diocese and attorneys representing the creditors committee, which is comprised of clergy sexual abuse victims, want more time for people to file.
The two parties have also filed a joint motion asking to extend the church’s deadline for filing a re-organization plan from Feb. 10 to Aug. 15. The church would have until Oct. 14 to solicit approval of its plan.
During bankruptcy proceedings, the debtor has 120 days to file its plan and 180 days to receive approval, unless it successfully files for a time extension, the motion states.
The church says it needs the additional time to determine the number of claims to be filed, to negotiate settlements with insurance carriers and to make sure the plan takes into account the interests of the church, creditors and other parties.
In order to notify possible claimants, the church will publish notices in several national and regional newspapers, including the Quad-City Times, Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and USA Today, among others, in March.
According to the motion, the diocese has already received a claim from a victim in Georgia, who they cite as an example of a creditor who has moved away from the area.
Davenport attorney Richard Davidson, who is representing the diocese, declined comment on the filings Wednesday. An attorney with a California law firm representing the creditors committee could not be reached for comment.
Another exhibit filed in court this week is a copy of the claim form victims will have to complete. The form, which can also be filled out by someone who knows the victim, asks 26 questions not counting basic identification details. The form asks for the dates of the alleged offense, the ages of the victim and the abuser and for details about the abuse itself and the circumstance in which it occurred.
Other questions include:
How often did the abuse occur and what was the approximate duration of each act?
Was anyone else present when the abuse occurred?
Did the claimant tell anyone about the abuse that resulted in the claim?
Has the claimant reported the abuse which resulted in the claim to the Diocese of Davenport, health care providers or law enforcement?
Does the claimant know about other people with sexual abuse claims against the Diocese of Davenport?
The form also asks if the victim has filed bankruptcy and includes three questions about the impact the abuse had on the victim, their family and other people the victim knows.
The diocese filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Iowa, in October. The diocese includes more than 100,000 Roman Catholics, 84 parishes, 15 parish-related elementary schools and seven middle and high schools.
One of the motions states that the diocese has been receiving allegations of clergy abuse since 1988.
Dustin Lemmon can be contacted at (563) 383-2493 or dlemmon@qctimes.com.
THE ACCUSED
Here is a list of current and former priests and other persons from the Diocese of Davenport who have been accused of sexual abuse was released in a filing this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Iowa. Several of the priests have previously been named in lawsuits, and some have faced multiple accusations of abuse. The background information comes from court documents and Quad-City Times archives unless otherwise noted.
Frances Bass — Accused of abusing a boy during the 1950s at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Clinton, Iowa. The diocese has submitted a request to the Vatican to defrock Bass.
Herman Bongers — Accused of abusing a boy at the former St. Vincent’s Orphanage in Davenport in the 1960s.
Paul Deyo — An alleged incident occurred in Johnson County, Iowa, in 1998. Deyo served at Regina High School in Iowa City from 1991 to 2000 while working at several parishes in that area.
Martin Diamond — Accused of sexually abusing a Hamilton, Ill., man who served as the altar boy for Diamond’s parish at the Church of All Saints in Keokuk, Iowa, during the late 1960s.
Thomas Feeney — Accused of abusing an altar boy in the early 1960s on Credit Island. It was the allegations against him that led a Scott County jury to award a victim $1.5 million in damages from the diocese last fall. Feeney died in 1981.
Franciscan Brothers of Christ the King — No information available.
Theodore Geerts — Accused of showing an altar boy pornographic movies and magazines that he kept locked in a double door cabinet in the St. Boniface Church basement in Farmington, Iowa.
Joseph Hines — No information available.
James Janssen — Accused of abusing a boy while serving at a church in Grand Mound, Iowa. He was dismissed and later reinstated only to commit more acts of abuse, according to court records.
Raymond Kalter — Accused of molesting a boy at St. Alphonsus Parish in Davenport in the 1960s.
Placidus Kieffer — Accused of molesting a boy while serving at St. John’s Catholic Church in Burlington, Iowa, from 1963 to 1969. He died in 1990. (Source: The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa)
James Leu — Accused of abusing two boys in 1985 while serving at St. Mary’s Parish in Lone Tree, Iowa. (Source: Johnson County, Iowa, court documents)
Frank Martinez — Accused of initiating sexual activity with a minor in 1986. The minor fled and sought help. The diocese has submitted a request to have him defrocked.
Carl Meinberg — Accused in one case during his tenure at St. Mary’s parish in Iowa City. He’s a former president of St. Ambrose University, who died in 1975. (Source: Associated Press)
Richard Poster — A Quad-City area priest sentenced to a year in federal prison on a charge of possessing child pornography in January 2004. The diocese has submitted a request to have him defrocked.
Father Quillen — No information available.
Don Redmond — Accused of abusing a boy while at St. John’s Catholic Church in Burlington. (Source: The Hawk Eye, Burlington; Topeka Capital-Journal, Topeka, Kan.)
Father Skubbe —No information available.
Drake Shafer — A former vicar general with the Diocese of Davenport who was accused of sexually abusing a minor in the 1970s.
Society of the Precious Blood — Louis Telegdy was reportedly a member of this order.
Lawrence Soens— A former bishop of the Sioux City Diocese who also served at St. Ambrose University and in Iowa City. He faces multiple accusations of abuse.
Louis Telegdy — A priest formerly with the Society of the Precious Blood who was accused of sexually abusing a minor in the late 1950s. Telegdy is deceased.
William Wiebler — Accused of abusing a boy during the mid-1970s at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Bettendorf. Died in September 2006.
See the form for priest sexual abuse victims to make a claim against the Diocese of Davenport.
del.icio.us
Digg
NewsVine
Fark
reddit» More Local Stories
Highest Rated Articles from the last 7 Days
- Technology News Articles
- Millions of Products on Sale. Read User Reviews & Store Ratings.
- www.NexTag.com
- 2008 Diet Of The Year:
- Finally, A Diet That Really Works! Seen On CNN, NBC, CBS & Fox News.
- www.Wu-YiSource.com
- Cheap Airfare
- Compare multiple travel sites. Discount web fares made easy.
- www.LowFares.com
- Ads by Yahoo!
