CALIFORNIA
Daily Breeze
By Carley Dryden, Daily Breeze
POSTED: 03/25/15
A Manhattan Beach woman has filed a lawsuit against a former priest from American Martyrs Catholic Church, alleging he sexually abused her while she was setting up a Mass.
Kate Bergin also named the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in the suit, announced Wednesday morning, claiming the church was negligent and failed to warn parishioners when it transferred the priest to another parish in Los Angeles late last year.
Bergin said she would drop the lawsuit if Father Nicholas Assi is removed from ministry.
“I don’t want to sue the church. I want to be able to go to church, but I can’t,” Bergin said through tears Wednesday outside American Martyrs. “It’s hypocrisy. They act like everything’s fine. It’s not. When something like this happens, they turn their backs.”
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