NORTH DAKOTA
The Dickinson Press
By: Bryan Horwath, The Dickinson Press
A civil suit brought against the Diocese of Bismarck by a man who claimed a priest with North Dakota ties sexually abused him has been settled.
Both parties involved in civil case John Doe No. 87 vs. the Diocese of Bismarck filed in U.S. District Court in Hawaii agreed to settlement terms last month, triggering a court-ordered dismissal of the case Friday. The case had been scheduled to go to trial in July.
Colorado resident Steven Crochet, 46, who agreed to waive his anonymity as the plaintiff in the suit during an interview with The Press in January, accused Rev. Maurice G. McNeely of forcing Crochet — then a pre-teen — to perform oral sex on him at a U.S. Army base in Hawaii in the mid-1970s.
Both Crochet’s attorney, Florida-based Adam Horowitz and diocese spokesman Matthew Kurtz declined to disclose the terms of the financial settlement when contacted Friday.
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