PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PAULA REED WARD
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
APR 23, 2018
An Altoona, Pa., woman who says the Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown covered up years of abuse by a known pedophile has asked the state Superior Court to reinstate her lawsuit.
Renee A. Rice, 50, filed a complaint in Blair County Common Pleas Court in June 2016 and amended it months later. She named as defendants the Rev. Charles F. Bodziak, who she said abused her, as well as the diocese; retired Bishop Joseph Adamec; and Monsignor Michael E. Servinsky, who is the executor of the estate of the late Bishop James Hogan.
Her complaint includes claims for fraud, constructive fraud and conspiracy. She is seeking punitive damages.
However, her lawsuit was dismissed in December by Blair County Judge Jolene Grubb Kopriva, who found that, based on controlling case law, Ms. Rice’s claims are barred by the statute of limitations.
“At times, we reach that point in the law, owing either to binding precedent or statutory authority, where a wrong may regrettably have no redress,” the judge wrote. “The appellate courts or legislature retain the power to alter that situation if they so choose beyond the [precedential] dictates of the trial court.”
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