Jury deciding abuse lawsuit against Green Bay diocese

APPLETON (WI)
Post-Crescent

Written by
Jim Collar
Post-Crescent staff writer

APPLETON — An Outagamie County jury is deciding now whether the Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay shielded a priest who later was convicted of molesting two boys.

Attorneys for Todd and Troy Merryfield suggested the jury award a total of $2.8 million to their clients as compensation for their abuse in 1978 in Freedom at the hands of former priest John Feeney.

The assaults of the Merryfields weren’t a matter of dispute at trial. Feeney was sentenced to prison in 2004 for assaulting the boys. He’s since been released.

Jurors began deliberating about 12:30 p.m. after closing statements from attorneys representing both the Merryfields and the diocese.

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