KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star
BY JUDY THOMAS
THE KANSAS CITY STAR
09/29/2014
The Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese was told repeatedly since the 1970s that Monsignor Thomas O’Brien was a danger to children but failed to prevent him from sexually abusing a former altar boy, his lawyer told jurors Monday.
Though no amount of money could make up for what happened to Jon David Couzens, attorney Rebecca Randles said, $10 million in compensatory damages plus punitive damages would be fitting.
But lawyers for the diocese told jurors that no credible evidence existed to prove Couzens’ allegation that the diocese — basically then-Bishop John J. Sullivan — knew of O’Brien’s alleged actions and that Couzens’ claims of repressed memory were invalid.
The lawyers gave their opening statements as the first case alleging sexual abuse of a minor by a priest to go before a jury in the Kansas City area got underway in Jackson County Circuit Court in Independence.
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