WASHINGTON
Yakima Herald-Republic
By Donald W. Meyers / Yakima Herald-Republic
dmeyers@yakimaherald.com
YAKIMA, Wash. — Lawyers for a man suing the Diocese of Yakima rested their sex-abuse case in federal court Wednesday.
Lawyers for John Doe, as he is identified in court papers, concluded with testimony from Bishop Emeritus Carlos Sevilla, who presided over the diocese in 1999, when Doe says he was raped by Deacon Aaron Ramirez at a Zillah parish office.
The diocese opened its defense Wednesday in U.S. District Court with a psychiatrist who said that the emotional problems Doe’s attorneys say he suffers from were more likely caused by abuse endured when he was 5 rather than the incident with Ramirez.
Doe is suing the diocese, alleging it failed to properly screen Ramirez before accepting him as a priesthood candidate, and that church officials did not supervise Ramirez when he worked at Resurrection Catholic Church in Zillah.
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