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  Order Settles Suit with Man Claiming Priest Abuse

Associated Press, carried in Belleville News Democrat
February 21, 2008

http://www.bnd.com/news/state/story/261448.html

ST. LOUIS — A Roman Catholic religious order based in St. Louis has settled with a man over claims he was abused a decade ago by a priest at his private school in the 1990s.

The Rev. Daniel Triulzi, who was on staff at Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis County at the time, is not serving as a priest or in a capacity that would put him near young people, said Brother Stephen Glodek, provincial for the Marianist Province of the U.S.

He is living in St. Louis in a Marianist community which is not near a school or day-care center, he said.

The civil lawsuit, filed in August 2005 by a man who is now 26 and living outside Missouri, alleged that Triulzi sexually assaulted him when he was a teenager, plying him with a car and trips.

The suit was mediated last summer and a settlement with an undisclosed financial sum was finalized last fall, prompting a dismissal of the lawsuit in September.

Ken Chackes, attorney for the plaintiff, identified only as "John Doe PJ," said the man "has suffered greatly from the abuse and was unsure about publicizing the settlement until now."

SNAP — an advocacy group for victims of clergy abuse — said the Marianists agreed to several reforms designed to prevent future abuse, including removing Triulzi from contact with children.

The Marianists said the settlement requires them to follow the audit of a national accrediting group. They said their schools must comply with child protection policies of their home dioceses. In addition, a Marianist board reviews credible allegations of sexual misconduct against any of its members and advises how to respond. The Marianists also agreed to ask former students to provide any information they may have on any other misconduct by Triulzi.

In a statement, Triulzi's former student thanked the Marianists and Chaminade for the reforms. He said he had tried for years to forget what had happened to him, and reached a degree of peace after seeking out mental health and legal counsel.

Triulzi taught at Nolan Catholic High School in Fort Worth, Texas, from 1983 to 1990 and was an assistant pastor of St. Mark's Catholic Church in Denton, Texas, from 1995 to 1999, the Marianists said.

 
 

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