MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star
By MARK MORRIS
The Kansas City Star
A Jackson County judge has removed the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph from a civil lawsuit that alleges child sexual abuse by a priest.
In a ruling issued Friday, Circuit Judge Ann Mesle freed the diocese from a suit against the Rev. Michael Tierney by dismissing one count of failure to supervise children and two counts of fraud and fraudulent misrepresentation.
Mesle wrote in her three-page order that she “struggled” with her decision to release the diocese from liability in the case, but said she was bound by other recent court rulings.
Lawyers and spokespersons for parties in the case either did not return calls or declined comment because of a gag order. In the past, Tierney has denied any wrongdoing.
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.