APPLETON (WI)
WTAQ
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – Attorneys for the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay presented their defense Thursday in Day 4 of their civil fraud trial.
Brothers Troy and Todd Merryfield accuse the diocese of hiding their knowledge that former priest John Feeney had a history of sexual abuse prior to his abusing the Merryfields while working at a Freedom church. Feeney was convicted in 2004 of molesting Troy and Todd Merryfield in May 1978.
In court Thursday, Monsignor Paul Koszarek testified he had heard rumors about John Feeney swimming nude with and showering with young boys in the early 1970’s.
Monsignor Koszarek was an episcopal vicar with the diocese in the 70’s. That means he was a representative to the bishop of the diocese at the time, in charge of parishes in Green Bay and De Pere.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.