PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News
MENSAH M. DEAN, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
DEANM@PHILLYNEWS.COM, 215-568-8278
POSTED: Thursday, November 14, 2013
THE FAMILY of the man who died of a drug overdose last month just before testifying in court against the Catholic priest he accused of sexually molesting him filed a wrongful-death lawsuit yesterday against the priest and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
The civil suit filed in Common Pleas Court by the family of Sean Patrick McIlmail alleges that the church failed to remove Father Robert L. Brennan from having contact with children even after officials learned he had behaved inappropriately with numerous boys.
McIlmail, 26, died of a drug overdose Oct. 13, which led to the abrupt cancellation of a preliminary hearing for Brennan, 75. Criminal charges against him are expected to be formally dropped at a court hearing today.
“Sean appeared good on the outside, but on the inside, he didn’t believe in himself,” Sean’s mother, Deborah, said at a news conference yesterday. “The unspeakable, disgusting horrors that had happened to Sean by Father Robert L. Brennan would haunt Sean forever.”
The Archdiocese had no comment on the lawsuit, a spokeswoman said.
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