PEORIA (IL)
Pantagraph
By Edith Brady-Lunny | eblunny@pantagraph.com
PEORIA — The bishop and the vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria must answer questions in a sexual abuse lawsuit filed five years ago against the diocese and a deceased Twin City priest, under an order entered in Peoria County Circuit Court.
Lawyers for Andrew Ward, 25, a former student at Epiphany School in Normal, challenged the diocese’s refusal to require that Bishop Daniel Jenky and Chancellor Patricia Gibson appear for a deposition in Ward’s 2008 lawsuit. Ward, who now lives in Michigan, has accused Monsignor Thomas Maloney, who died in 2009, of sexually abusing him at Epiphany Catholic Church between 1995 and 1996 when he was in second grade.
The diocese resisted the deposition, saying both leaders took office in 2002, long after the alleged abuse took place, and the same year Maloney retired from active ministry for health reasons.
The deadline for the depositions, initially set for May 25, has been extended to accommodate scheduling conflicts, said Jeff Anderson, one of Ward’s lawyers. A Sept. 9 trial is scheduled in the lawsuit.
The order for the depositions sets out strict rules for how the bishop and chancellor will respond to questions about the alleged abuse.
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