TEXAS
Caller-Times
By Fares Sabawi of the Caller-Times
A woman is suing the Diocese of Corpus Christi, a religious order and a former priest accused of sexual assault of a child in Bee County.
The lawsuit, filed July 12 in Nueces County on behalf of “Jane Doe 108,” accuses Stephen Tarleton Dougherty of sexually assaulting her multiple times starting when she was 7 years old.
Dougherty, who could not be reached for comment, was ordained as a Catholic priest in 2003, according to the lawsuit.
The 59-year-old was indicted by a Bee County grand jury in June on one count of sexual assault of a child, a first degree felony. The indictment references a December 2011 assault. Bee County District Attorney Jose Aliseda confirmed Dougherty was indicted but declined further comment.
The lawsuit names the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity and Dougherty as defendants.
Diocese spokesman Marty Wind said the diocese had not been served with the lawsuit as of Tuesday afternoon. He declined to comment on the allegations and on Dougherty.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.