KC priest lawsuit dismissed – for now

KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

By JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star

Lawyers on Tuesday dismissed a sexual abuse lawsuit against three Catholic priests in a two-year-old case that captured national attention.

But the case is far from over.

Instead, it is being put on hold while lawyers ask an appeals court to reinstate the local Catholic diocese as a defendant. After that, plaintiff John Doe B.P. plans to re-file the lawsuit and resume litigation.

The delay also gives a reprieve to the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which had been ordered to turn over records in the case. A hearing had been scheduled for Tuesday at which Jackson County Circuit Judge Ann Mesle was to decide whether the group’s national director was in contempt of court for failing to produce records in the case.

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