OREGON
The Oregonian
By Helen Jung | hjung@oregonian.com
on October 31, 2013
A 47-year old Washington County man is suing the Archdiocese of Portland for more than $6.3 million, saying it failed to prevent or rein in a known pedophile priest from raping and assaulting him as a boy in the 1970s.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Portland, is one of dozens that have been lodged over the years against the archdiocese regarding alleged sexual abuse by Father Maurice Grammond, who served as a priest for more than 40 years in Oregon. The archdiocese has paid out more than $33 million in settlements with 54 victims of Grammond — more than for any other of its priests.
Grammond was suspended from the priesthood in 1991 and died 11 years later at a Gresham care home for Alzheimer’s patients.
“The archdiocese knew for 20 years before my client was abused that Father Grammond was molesting boys, and yet that whole time it did nothing,” said Kristian Roggendorf, the attorney for the plaintiff, who is named only by pseudonym. “It’s unfortunate that the only recourse he has now is a civil lawsuit for his broken life.”
The archdiocese did not immediately comment on the suit.
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