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	Davenport Diocese, Plaintiffs Back in Court By Todd Ruger Quad-City Times [Davenport IA] March 16, 2005 A defrocked priest from the Catholic Diocese of Davenport is refusing to disclose his current address as part of a lawsuit accusing him of sexually abusing boys decades ago. At the same time, attorneys for the men accusing him of the abuse are refusing to tell James Janssen their share of a $9 million settlement with the diocese announced more than four months ago. Arguments on those legal wranglings Wednesday before Iowa District Court Judge C.H. Pelton restarted court action since the October settlement in sexual abuse lawsuits filed against Janssen and other former diocesan priests. The plaintiffs dismissed the diocese from the lawsuits in January as part of the settlement made with 36 men and one woman but are continuing legal action against the individual priests. The priests — Janssen, who was removed from the priesthood by the pope, the Rev. Francis Bass, the Rev. William Wiebler, the late Rev. Theodore Geerts and Vicar General Monsignor Drake Shafer — have denied the accusations in court records. Pelton said at Wednesday’s hearing he would set a May 2 trial date for the lawsuit filed by James Wells, putting the cases "back on track" after the settlement. Wells accuses Janssen, his uncle, of abuse beginning at age 5 in 1953 and continuing until 1962. He claimed the diocese failed to take action when he and his mother, Janssen's sister, reported the abuse to church authorities in 1990. Plaintiff attorney Craig Levien offered to settle the Janssen cases for $10,000 each and the former priest’s admission to the abuse and agreement to voluntarily seek treatment and remove himself from the public. Janssen’s attorney, Edward Wehr, has called that financially unrealistic for the former priest. Levien argued Wednesday that his client needs to know Janssen’s current residence to conduct additional investigation, since he intends to prove Janssen has been a serial child abuser throughout his life. "For example, recently, it was learned that defendant Janssen had signed up, at age 82 or 83, to attend a training session for foster parents," Levien wrote in a court filing on the issue. In a response court filing, Wehr argued the current address of his client, whom he refers to as "Father," has nothing to do with allegations of conduct more than 30 years ago. "Father Janssen has been vilified in the media and has already had refusals for living quarters because of the publicity surrounding these proceedings," Wehr wrote. "(He) does not want action taken against him by current neighbors simply because of something alleged to have happened years ago." On Wednesday, Janssen’s attorney for the hearing, Steven Berger, argued the men in the lawsuit should disclose the money they received from the settlement because they are not entitled to duplicate damages for the same injuries. "We want all the information from all the claimants to see if it all adds up," Berger said of the request, adding that the total of the entire settlement was "well-publicized." Levien called an attempt to compel the plaintiffs to disclose the individual terms of the settlement an "attempt to embarrass them into dropping these cases." Pelton said he will rule on the motions at a later date.
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