Men Sue Green Bay Catholic Diocese over Pedophile Priest, by Elizabeth Ries, WBAY-TV

Men Sue Green Bay Catholic Diocese over Pedophile Priest

By Elizabeth Ries
WBAY-TV - ABC2
January 3, 2008

http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=7567610

Two men molested by a priest as teenagers filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, claiming officials there covered up the abuse.

"They are going to be held accountable. They have to be. It can't ever occur again," victim Todd Merryfield said.

The Diocese Responds

Deacon Tim Reilly said the diocese received a copy of the lawsuit, and the diocese will defend itself.

"At this point, what was submitted to the court system was the side of the plaintiffs, and the attorneys for the plaintiffs have the obligation of portraying the defendants -- us, the diocese -- to portray us as negatively as possible," Reilly told reporters.

"We now have the opportunity, now that these papers have been filed and served on us, to take a look at what they said and be able to respond to the accusations that they have made in this legal filing."

The lawsuit requests a formal response within 45 days. The diocese says it will comply with that.

Former priest John Patrick Feeney was convicted in 2004 for molesting two brothers, Troy and Todd Merryfield, in the late 1970s. The Merryfield brothers are now in their 40s. Their lawsuit claims officials at the diocese not only knew Feeney sexually abused numerous children but secretly moved him from parish to parish to cover it up.

"It is the Diocese of Green Bay and the officials there that protected Feeney and allowed him to not only abuse these two courageous men but to abuse, by our account, at least a dozen boys over a 30-year period in 20 different parishes and in three states," Jeff Anderson, attorney for the Merryfields, said.

The suit cites church documents. A 1974 letter from a counselor to Feeney after therapy sessions says, "Under stress, your usual controls over sexual impulses may fail and cause some indiscretions."

Another is a letter Feeney wrote to the bishop in 1974 after he was in counseling. "I was sorry to learn you had received more complaints about me," he wrote.

Nine years later, in 1983, an internal memo regarding Feeney states, "There were widespread accusations, allegations, and rumors regarding sexual improprieties on the part of Father Feeney from previous parish assignments."

One of those incidents, when Feeney was reported to have joined young boys while they were changing clothes, occurred even after the bishop advised Feeney to stay away from children all together.

The lawsuit alleges if the diocese took action against Feeney, the Merryfield brothers would never have been abused in the first place.

"It is a sad day, but it is also a hopeful day that there are survivors like Todd and Troy Merryfield that have the courage to not only the expose Feeney but to expose this diocese," said Anderson, who accused diocesan officials of a "pattern of fraud and deceit and deception." Anderson said.

"They continue to keep these secrets. They continue to refuse to do what needs to be done," Todd Merryfield said.

The Merryfields are seeking unspecified monetary damages, but they say their main goal is to hold the diocese accountable for its role in sexual abuse and prevent it from happening in the future.

Feeney was defrocked. He continues to serve prison sentence at Fox Lake Correctional Institution.