BUFFALO (NY)
WIVB TV
Dec. 18, 2019
By Chris Horvatits
Canisius College is the newest target of a Child Victims Act lawsuit. It’s the first time the school has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit related to clergy sex abuse since the CVA window opened up in August.
School officials say they are cooperating with the accuser’s attorney.
The accuser, Matthew Ebert, claims that he was abused by Rev. Charles Lehmkuhl while the Jesuit priest worked at Canisius. In the lawsuit filed Tuesday, Ebert says “Father Lehmkuhl engaged in unpermitted sexual contact” with him from 1973 until 1983 when the minor was between the ages of 7 and 17.
The lawsuit refers to Lehmkuhl as “a father figure and spiritual leader” for Ebert.
Ebert was never a student at Canisius, school officials tell News 4.
“The sole basis for Canisius College being named in this suit is the fact that Fr. Lemkuhl was employed at the college and that some of the acts are alleged to have occurred on college property during the summer when Mr. Ebert came to Canisius to visit Fr. Lemkuhl,” school officials said in a statement.
Lehmkuhl died in 1995.
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