JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Clifford Ward, Special to the Tribune
8:53 p.m. CDT, March 12, 2013
A settlement reached between the Joliet Diocese and a man who accused one of its priests of molesting him as a boy will result in the release of personnel files and documents related to 15 priests considered sex offenders, it was announced Tuesday.
In announcing the settlement, Bishop R. Daniel Conlon said the diocese would comply with a Will County judge’s ruling that lifts a protective order of specific files and documents of the “priest-offenders.”
Attorneys for plaintiff David Rudofski said there are 7,000 pages of internal diocesan documents dating back decades that detailed abuse allegedly committed by priests. The settlement allows the documents to be released voluntarily by the plaintiff. Three pages were released Tuesday.
Rudofski filed suit in 2007 alleging he was abused as an 8-year-old by the Rev. James Burnett while making his first confession in the early 1980s at St. Mary Catholic Church in Mokena, according to Rudofski’s attorney, Terry Johnson.
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