WASHINGTON
National Catholic Reporter
Dan Morris-Young | Jun. 13, 2014
“During the last two decades” the Catholic church has “been repeatedly sued because bishops and others in authority sent priests known to have molested children to new assignments where they molested other children. This is not such a case,” a federal judge wrote in the introduction to a June 12 ruling that the Diocese of Yakima, Wash., is not liable for the 1999 sexual abuse of a 17-year-old boy by a transitional deacon.
In a 34-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Edward Shea rejected arguments that the diocese failed to adequately vet Rev. Mr. Aaron Ramirez when it accepted him as a priesthood candidate from Mexico or that it did not adequately oversee him.
The plaintiff failed to prove the church knew or should have known that Ramirez posed a risk as a sexual predator, the judge declared.
The lawsuit sought $8 million. Calls to the plaintiff’s legal firm to ask about a potential appeal were not immediately returned.
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