Oakland priest abuse ruling makes lawsuits more difficult

CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times

By Howard Mintz hmintz@mercurynews.comcontracostatimes.com
Posted: 03/29/2012

The California Supreme Court on Thursday made it much tougher to bring new lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Church over long-past instances of clergy abuse, barring a case against the Oakland diocese brought on behalf of six brothers who maintain a priest molested them during the 1970s.

In a 5-to-2 decision, the Supreme Court concluded that the statute of limitations barred the case because the brothers did not capitalize on a new one-year window to bring such old claims the Legislature set in 2002. The Legislature opened the door for suits against the church in response to a widening scandal over allegations of priests abusing children decades ago.

The Supreme Court case centered on the brothers who were in their 40s and 50s in 2006 when they linked their adult psychological problems to the abuse allegations. The brothers alleged in their lawsuit that they were molested as children by Donald Broderson, an Oakland priest who was forced to resign in 1993 as a result of abuse allegations. He died two years ago.

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