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  Priest's Court Battle Expands

By Chris Birk
The Times-Tribune [Scranton PA]
November 14, 2005

A court battle is shaping up over psychological records of a Diocese of Scranton priest accused of sexually abusing a teenage parishioner.

Attorneys in the federal lawsuit against the Rev. Albert M. Liberatore are also pushing the diocese to release documents detailing all claims and investigations of sexual misconduct against diocesan priests or employees over the past 20 years.

Father Liberatore has already pleaded guilty to nine criminal counts in two jurisdictions stemming from a sexual relationship he had with a former sacristan at Sacred Heart of Jesus in Duryea. Filed a year ago this month in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the civil suit on behalf of now college-age John Doe and his family levies a host of charges against the priest and diocesan officials, including assault and battery and failure to protect.

While his name is disclosed in court papers, it is the policy of The Times-Tribune not to identify victims of sexual assault.

Daniel T. Brier, the family's attorney, wants as part of the legal discovery process records kept by John J. Lemoncelli, Ed.D., a licensed Scranton psychologist who treated Father Liberatore on an outpatient basis. Dr. Lemoncelli won't hand over the records without consent from the priest, who so far has refused to authorize their release, according to court papers filed late last month by Mr. Brier.

Mr. Brier argues that the records aren't covered by patient-doctor privilege because Father Liberatore underwent treatment at the direction of the diocese and with the expectation that details of his treatment would be disclosed — and, in fact, were disclosed — to diocesan officials.

Efforts to reach Dr. Lemoncelli were unsuccessful.

"We will continue to vigorously pursue all relevant information hidden behind the cloak of secrecy in the interest of preventing this grotesque harm from happening to other children," said Mr. Brier.

Lawrence J. Moran, who represents Father Liberatore, said the psychologist asserted his privilege, and that the records dispute isn't central to his client's position in the case.

Mr. Brier has also moved to obtain a list of all diocesan employees named in sexual abuse complaints from 1985 to the present and all meeting minutes of the Diocesan Review Board, a panel that advises the bishop after evaluating sexual abuse complaints received by the Diocese of Scranton. Attorneys for the diocese have declined to provide either, claiming the information isn't relevant and comes with an expectation of confidentiality.

Efforts to reach Joseph A. O'Brien, who represents the diocese, were unsuccessful.

In court filings, diocesan attorneys claim "the release of this information would be harmful to the diocese and victims alike who have an expectation that the information would be kept confidential."

Mr. Brier, alleging the diocese was negligent in hiring and supervising Father Liberatore, disagrees. He said the diocese can't claim to follow its standard policies, then avoid scrutiny of the way those practices were implemented.

Trial judge A. Richard Caputo has set a discovery meeting for Nov. 22 at 1:30 p.m.

In August, Father Liberatore was sentenced to 10 years probation in a New York City courtroom after pleading guilty to a felony count of attempted sexual abuse, admitting to initiating sexual contact with John Doe, then 17, during a May 2002 trip to the city. Months earlier, the priest was sentenced in Luzerne County to five years probation, pleading guilty to three counts each of indecent assault and corruption of minors, and one count each of endangering the welfare of children and furnishing alcohol to minors.