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Lawsuits Allege Abuse, Name Diocese and Holy Family Institute

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
April 16, 2020

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/faith-religion/2020/04/16/roman-catholic-diocese-pittsburgh-abuse-lawsuit-holy-family-institute-emsworth/stories/202004070146

Four lawsuits have been filed this month against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh — two of them also naming Holy Family Institute in Emsworth — by plaintiffs alleging that as minors they were were sexually abused by priests or other employees decades ago.

The lawsuits were filed in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and allege, among other things, that the defendants engaged in fraud and conspiracy.

They are the latest in a line of lawsuits based on a legal theory that is now before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in a test case. Abuse claims from long ago would normally be barred under the statute of limitations. But the plaintiffs argue they were victims of a conspiracy of coverup that continued right up to the release of a 2018 statewide grand jury report into sexual abuse in Pittsburgh’s and five other dioceses. The plaintiffs allege this brings the cause of action to within the statute of limitations.

 

 

 

 

 




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