ALTOONA (PA)
Tribune Review
December 18, 2017
By Stephen Huba
The attorney for a Blair County woman who sued a Catholic priest is considering an appeal now that a judge has thrown out the lawsuit.
Blair County Common Pleas Judge Jolene Kopriva, whose term expires at the end of the year, said Renee Rice’s civil suit was filed after the statute of limitations had expired.
“I intend to review with my client her right to appeal Judge Kopriva’s opinion,” Altoona attorney Richard Serbin said in a statement.
Rice and her sister, Cheryl Haun, sued the Rev. Charles Bodziak last year over allegations that he fondled them in the 1970s, when they were ages 7 and 9. At the time, he was serving at St. Leo’s Catholic Church in Altoona.
The sisters also sued the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, which was the subject of an investigation by the Pennsylvania attorney general over allegations of clergy sexual abuse spanning decades. A special grand jury released a 147-page report in March 2016 detailing the alleged abuse of hundreds of minors by more than 50 priests in the eight-county diocese.
The lawsuit alleged counts of fraud, constructive fraud and conspiracy against retired Bishop Joseph Adamec and the estate of Bishop James Hogan.
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