NASHVILLE (TN)
The Tullahoma News [Tullahoma TN]
January 19, 2026
By Duane Sherrill
A former Tullahoma priest has been named in a federal lawsuit that includes the Catholic Church in what the plaintiffs maintain was part of a larger conspiracy by the Vatican to cover up sexual abuse by priests.
Named in the suit is former local priest Father Frank Iazzetta–now deceased–who was at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church and St. Paul the Apostle School in Tullahoma at the time of the alleged abuse. According to the Diocese of Nashville, Iazzetta was an administrator of St. Paul during his time in Tullahoma. He would resign from the priesthood in 1993 and died in March 2007.
“Father Frank Iazaetta used his position as head priest and head master to sexually abuse the plaintiff when he was a minor child.”
The alleged victim, Miles Jefferies, is listed as the plaintiff and his suit names the Catholic Diocese of Nashville; St. Paul the Apostle School, The Diocese of Metuchen, The Diocese of Trenton and a list of John Doe defendants.
“The Catholic Church has engaged in a practice of priest shuffling where priests accused of abuse are moved around,” the suit alleges. “In an investigation across 21 countries, the Associated Press found thirty cases of priests accused of abuse who were transferred or moved abroad. Many of the transferred priests had access to children in another country, and some abused children again. Instead of addressing the problem of clergy abuse, the culture of the Catholic Church has been to cover up sexual abuse committed by clergy and shuffle around any problematic priests accused of abuse. This case involves Defendants that fell in line with this entrenched culture within the Catholic Church. This is a case of religious institutional negligence that enabled and even created the perfect environment for a priest to sexually abuse a vulnerable child.”
The suit maintains the Dioceses had received complaints about the priest but failed to implement policies to protect the children within his reach. In the case of Jefferies, he was six to 10 years old at the time of the alleged incidents. He is now 40.
The plaintiff tells a nightmarish tale in his specific allegations against the priest, including all types of molestations. Due to the graphic nature of the allegations, they are not included in this article, but the full lawsuit can be found at the bottom of this story.
“The abuse occurred in the vestibule located at the back of St. Paul Church, in the sacristy of St. Paul Church, the rectory where Father Frank Iazzetta resided at St. Paul Church, and in Father Frank Iazzetta’s office at St. Paul School,” the suit maintains. “Defendants knew or should have known of Father Frank Iazzetta’s tendency and propensity for the conduct which caused injury to Plaintiff, particularly that Father Frank Iazzetta had a propensity to sexually abuse minors, given his history of being transferred from church to church without staying at any one assignment for more than two years.”
The suit goes on to allege that Iazzetta has litigation against him from his time as a priest in New Jersey.
The victim says he suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome and was diagnosed with such in 2024 at which time the molestations came to the forefront as part of his treatment.
“Defendants breached their duties to Plaintiff by failing to use reasonable care to protect him from Father Frank Iazzetta, including by continuing to retain and by neglecting to supervise Father Frank Iazzetta,” the suit says. “This gave him access to and allowed him to sexually abuse Plaintiff. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ negligence, Plaintiff has suffered and continues to suffer severe emotional injuries, including pain and suffering, pain of mind and body, emotional distress, physical manifestations of emotional distress, loss of self-esteem, loss of enjoyment of life, post-traumatic stress disorder resulting in re-experiencing the trauma on a daily basis, avoidance of the trauma, overly negative thoughts and views about himself, hyperarousal, and other negative emotional experiences.”
The plaintiff is asking the court to award compensatory and punitive damages as determined by a jury in the case, which has been filed in the Middle District of U.S. District Court.
The lawsuit can be read in full here.