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3 Men Settle Molest Lawsuit Involving Ex-eureka Priest, Get $550,000

By Paul Payne
Press Democrat
June 25, 2012

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120625/ARTICLES/120629683/1033/news?Title=3-men-settle-molest-lawsuit-involving-ex-Eureka-priest-get-550-000&tc=ar

Three men who said they were molested by a Humboldt County priest in the 1980s have settled their lawsuit against church officials for $550,000.

A fourth man has rewritten his lawsuit to avoid being timed out by the statute of limitations.

All claim they were victims of Father Patrick McCabe, a priest at St. Bernard Parish in Eureka from 1983 to 1985. McCabe was arrested in 2010 on unrelated child-sex charges and extradited to Ireland for prosecution.

In March, three men who sued the Santa Rosa Diocese and the Archdiocese of Dublin, alleging officials knowingly placed a pedophile in their midst, settled their case for $550,000, their lawyer, Joseph George Jr., said Monday.

The Irish order paid $400,000 and the Santa Rosa diocese $150,000, George said.

The fourth plaintiff, Greg Horne, did not settle. Instead, he amended his complaint earlier this month to conform to a recent state Supreme Court ruling that limits how long someone can wait to sue after being molested.

He removed claims of sexual battery, assault and negligence and instead is focusing on straight fraud, alleging church officials failed to disclose McCabe’s history, which included past allegations of molestation.

He also added his mother as a second plaintiff, saying she relied on “misrepresentations” when she placed her son in the school and worked at church bingo games to pay his tuition.

Horne’s lawyer said the claims are timely because the statute of limitations for fraud is three years from time of discovery. Horne became aware of McCabe’s troubled past in 2010 through news stories about his arrest.

“Greg wants his day in court,” George said. “He wants to know more about what the Santa Rosa Diocese knew and didn’t tell his mother. He wants to know more about the pattern of placing pedophiles in parishes without warning.”

A lawyer for the diocese said regardless of the label, Horne’s suit is too late because he is more than 26 years old. Attorney Adrienne Moran said that’s the cutoff upheld by the Supreme Court ruling.

She was unsure about the legal value of adding his mother as a plaintiff.

“If they really thought she had a viable claim, they would have included her in the earlier lawsuits,” she said. “It’s an obvious attempt to get around the Supreme Court decision.”

The diocese has 30 days to file a response. A trial date has not been set.

The diocese, which serves 167,000 Catholics from Sonoma County to the Oregon border, has paid about $25 million to settle victims’ lawsuits in recent years.

McCabe faces trial in Ireland on charges of sexually assaulting six boys in Dublin between 1973 and 1981. After the accusations surfaced, he fled the country in 1988.

He was abruptly removed from the Eureka parish in 1985 after parents complained he had children sit on his knee during confession, according to court papers. He then served briefly at St. Elizabeth Parish in Guerneville before returning to Ireland.

Diocesan officials have said there is no evidence church officials knew of McCabe’s past before he came to the North Coast.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com

 

 

 

 

 




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