DALLAS (TX)
The Independent [London, England]
February 18, 2023
By Andrea Blanco
Alleged victims claim they were assaulted in the dark basement of an orphanage in the 1960s
Two men have sued the Catholic Diocese of Dallas and a charity in Texas over the alleged cover-up of their sexual assault.
The victims, who have not been named in the lawsuit filed last week, say they were sexually assaulted by Reverend Henry McGill at the Dunne Memorial Home for Boys orphanage between 1962 and 1971, the Dallas Morning News reported.
They claimed a nun by the name of Sister Mary Bridgette would give them alcohol before leaving them in a dark basement, where they were then assaulted.
McGill died at the age of 84 in 1996. His name was included in a list of priests credibly accused of sexual assault released by the diocese in 2019.
The men are now seeking more than $1m in damages. They argue in the lawsuit that although their assaults took place decades ago, the statute of limitation has not passed as a 2019 raid of the diocese’s offices in Dallas serves as proof that the alleged coverup was still taking place.
The Catholic Diocese of Dallas and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word are named in the lawsuit and accused of failing to protect the boys from the rampant abuse at the orphanage.
A spokesperson told the Morning News that the diocese “takes all claims of abuse very seriously.”
One of the boys alleged in the lawsuit that he was abused by McGill from 1962 to 1967. He recounted that Sister Bridgette would wake him up at night, telling him that “he had done something wrong” and deserved to be punished.
She would then force him to drink alcohol before arranging the alleged assault by McGill, he claimed.
The other victim alleged that he was abused from the time he was 9 in 1967 until 1971. He claimed that some of the attacks took place at McGill’s home, which was right across the orphanage.
The Independent has reached out to the Catholic Diocese of Dallas and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word for comment.