Suit: Ex-altar Boy Claims Priest Molested Him in ‘80s

Southtown Star
April 24, 2012

http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/news/12115857-418/suit-ex-altar-boy-claims-priest-molested-him-in-80s.html

A man filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming a now-deceased priest molested him more than 20 years ago while he was a parishioner at St. Christina Parish in Chicago’s Mount Greenwood community.

The plaintiff, listed only as John W. Doe, filed the suit in Cook County Circuit Court against the Archdiocese of Chicago.

In it, he claims the Rev. John Curran sexually abused him in 1987 while he was a child and a parishioner of St. Christina, 11005 S. Homan Ave.

The suit claims the plaintiff, who was then an altar server at the parish, came from a devout Catholic family and trusted Curran, even though the Archdiocese previously had received reports that he was sexually abusing minors.

The plaintiff claims he filed the lawsuit now because previously repressed memories of the alleged abuse resurfaced in 2011.

Curran worked at the parish between 1980 and 1993 and died in 2000. The Archdiocese has substantiated allegations of sexual abuse against him, according to the church’s website, which did not provide additional details about those incidents.

A Chicago Archdiocese spokesperson said church officials had not yet seen the lawsuit and could not comment on it.