Woman sues Belleville Diocese over allegations of sexual exploitation by priest

By Jesse Bogan
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
October 11, 2016

https://goo.gl/u9j1ot

The Diocese of Belleville Chancery Office building which sits across the street from St. Peter's Catholic Cathedral in Belleville on Aug. 10, 2011. Photo by Johnny Andrews

A lawsuit filed Tuesday in St. Clair County alleges the Belleville Diocese “created a foreseeable zone of risk of sexual abuse and exploitation” by a Roman Catholic priest.

The Rev. Osang Idagbo, currently the parish administrator at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Waterloo, is accused of manipulating a vulnerable woman between December 2013 and July 2015, while she sought his counsel about becoming Catholic and getting through a rough relationship with her husband.

The lawsuit alleges sexual contact between Idagbo and Laura Merleau-McGrady at the rectory at Sts. Peter and Paul, at the plaintiff’s home and at various locations.

Idagbo is not named as a defendant in the case, only the diocese, which is accused of negligent supervision of him. The suit seeks more than $50,000 in compensation.

“The diocese represented to parishioners that Idagbo was a fit, competent, and safe man to provide spiritual guidance and counseling on behalf of the diocese by virtue of placing Idagbo in a sacred position of trust and authority as a priest and the head of a Catholic parish,” the lawsuit states.

Merleau-McGrady, 51, claims in the lawsuit that she’d contacted church authorities in Belleville about the sexual contact and it still continued. She alleges the priest also had improper relationships with other women.

“It was reasonably foreseeable to the diocese that Idagbo would use his position in the church to sexually abuse and exploit vulnerable women who came to him for religious and spiritual guidance,” the lawsuit states.

Idagbo, a priest from Nigeria, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

In response to a request for comment, church officials released a brief prepared statement: “The Diocese of Belleville takes seriously any complaint of impropriety. It is, however, the Diocese’s policy not to comment on pending litigation. Please pray for the individuals involved — especially the plaintiff, the priest and all parishioners — that in this ‘Year of Mercy,’ both truth and justice may be affirmed.”

Merleau-McGrady moved to China a year ago to teach English, said her attorney, Jessica Arbour.

Arbour said by telephone that Merleau-McGrady was unable to consent to the sexual relationship because her client was in duress.

“She had been so manipulated and brainwashed and exploited by him that she didn’t have the ability to stop,” said Arbour, adding that the priest knew her client was bipolar and had other struggles.

Arbour said her client wanted to be identified in the lawsuit as a “show of her taking back her own power” and to encourage anyone else who might be considering coming forward.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests held a news conference Tuesday afternoon near the office of Bishop Edward Braxton to bring attention to this case and others.

“The abuse of vulnerable people is often minimized, but the pain is often devastating,” David Clohessy, a spokesman for SNAP, said by telephone.