OHIO
Toledo Blade
BY NOLAN ROSENKRANS
BLADE STAFF WRITER
A man abused as a boy 14 years ago by a Toledo Catholic priest was not told the priest had admitted to the allegation before he died, the man’s attorney said Friday.
Khary Hanible is representing a man who reported in January to the Toledo-Detroit Province of the Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales that the Rev. James H. Roth had sexually abused him when he was nine or 10 years old. Father Roth died in February, and though his death has not been confirmed as a suicide, he left a note admitting to the abuse, said the Rev. Ken McKenna, the Oblates’ provincial.
Father McKenna acknowledged the note Thursday in an interview with The Blade; Mr. Hanible said his client and his family learned of the note from The Blade.
“He’s not happy about it,” Mr. Hanible said. “The family is not happy about it.”
Father McKenna said the survivor was told in late February that his allegation was confirmed, but the note’s existence wasn’t revealed because neither the survivor nor his attorney inquired.
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