Bishop Rick Stika of Knoxville, Tennessee admitted last week that he told priests of his diocese that a seminarian accused of rape had actually been the victim of a sexual assault, rather than its aggressor.

The bishop said a parish organist, who accused the former seminarian of rape, had actually committed the sexual assault.

The admission came in the April 11 diocesan response to a lawsuit which alleges Stika covered up allegations of sexual assault.

The suit charges that Stika impeded an investigation into the allegation that former seminarian Wojciech Sobczuk sexually assaulted the lawsuit’s plaintiff, who worked as an organist at the Diocese of Knoxville’s cathedral.

The suit also alleges that: 

“Stika falsely stated at a General Priest Meeting at Cathedral Hall in Knoxville, Tennessee on May 25, 2021 that Plaintiff was a predator who had victimized Sobczuk. Plaintiff did not discover that Stika had made these statements until…