Catholic Diocese of Erie Facing New Lawsuit

ERIE (PA)
WJET-TV 24 ABC

July 24, 2020

By Samiar Nefzi

The Catholic Diocese of Erie is now facing a new lawsuit from three victims ranging from as far back as the mid-1970’s.

This new lawsuit comes as we near the two year anniversary of the grand jury report on the Catholic Church.

These recent claims are related to similar ones from the alleged cover up.

A high-profile sex abuse lawyer has filed a suit against the Diocese of Erie.

The three victims were identified by initials, all children at the time with the lawsuit suggesting J.A., 12 years old in 1978 was abused by Father Michael Barletta, W.C., 15 years old in 1983 was abused by Clergy Chester Gawronski and K.M. who was seven years old in 1975 was abused by Priest Fidelis G. Lazar.

“The abuse survivors still live with it everyday, I do not think it is fair or right that an institution gets to move on with itself and say look those are the sins of the past when there are thousands of people struggling today,” said attorney Nate Foote.

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.