Lawsuit alleging abuse is filed against Joliet Diocese, former priest

By Alicia Fabbre
Chicago Tribune
January 7, 2015

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/downers-grove-darien-westmont-woodridge/ct-joliet-priest-abuse-suit-met-0107-20150107-story.html

For the third time in three years, the Diocese of Joliet and a former priest are the subject of a lawsuit charging abuse.

Attorneys for Stan Lewandowski, 47, filed the lawsuit in Will County last week. The suit alleges Lewandowski was abused by Lawrence Gibbs, a priest who left the ministry in the 1990s following allegations of abuse.

Lewandowski, who was 10 at the time of the alleged abuse, served as an altar boy at Divine Savior Catholic Church in Downers Grove and attended a religious retreat with Gibbs and other boys during the summer of 1977, according to the lawsuit.

The 12-count lawsuit claims Gibbs gave Lewandowski alcohol and played strip poker with him. Gibbs also allegedly showed Lewandowski pornography and taught him how to masturbate. Gibbs also performed oral sex on the boy, according to the lawsuit.

Though the incidents occurred in 1977, the lawsuit notes that Lewandowski was only made aware of the incidents in September 2010, when he realized that he "was repressing the memories of his having been abused as a minor child."

According to the lawsuit, Lewandowski has suffered emotionally from the abuse and continues to undergo therapy and counseling. The suit also claims Lewandowski has suffered the "loss of religious faith" and has "difficulty in practicing his religion through the church."

The lawsuit claims the incidents occurred at a retreat in the summer of 1977, in a room adjacent to the rectory and in a home near the rectory. The suit also claims the diocese knew, or should have known, about Gibbs' abuse.

When reached at his St. Louis home, Gibbs declined to comment about the lawsuit.

Lewandowski could not be reached for comment. His attorney did not return phone calls.

It is the third time in three years that Gibbs has been named in a Will County lawsuit charging abuse.

"We will be reviewing it," Edward Flavin, a spokesman for the Diocese of Joliet, said about Lewandowski's lawsuit. "We take these matters very seriously."

The lawsuit, which also lists Lewandowski's wife as a plaintiff, seeks more than $50,000 in damages for each of the 12 counts. Two of the counts allege the abuse has affected the Lewandowski's marital relations.