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  Egan Avoids Testifying in Abuse Case

New York Post [Stamford CT]
Downloaded January 20, 2005

Edward Cardinal Egan will not have to testify in the trial of a sexual-abuse lawsuit against his former Connecticut diocese.

The case, involving a former altar boy and a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, has been settled, the plaintiff's attorneys said yesterday.

The plaintiff, known in court documents as John Doe, said he was molested at age 14 by the Rev. John Castaldo in the early 1990s, when Castaldo was a priest at St. Teresa Church in Trumbull and Egan was the Bridgeport bishop.

The plaintiff's real name and the terms of the settlement were not released at his request, said his attorneys, Ernest Teitell and Paul Slager.

Egan had received a subpoena that required him to provide sworn videotaped testimony about his knowledge of the case, and was to have testified next week.

"We hope that this settlement will allow our client to find some closure," said Teitell.

Joseph McAleer, spokesman for the diocese, declined to comment.

The diocese has reached multimillion-dollar settlements of other abuse cases. AP