Former Topeka Priest Accused of Sexually Abusing Boy

By Katie Moore
Topeka Capital-Journal
April 12, 2018

http://www.cjonline.com/news/20180411/former-topeka-priest-accused-of-sexually-abusing-boy

A man who as a child served as an altar boy at St. Matthew’s Parish in Topeka alleges a priest began sexually abusing him when he was 9 years old.

“Father M.J.,” whose full name wasn’t disclosed in a lawsuit filed in August 2017, and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City are listed as defendants in a civil case.

A motion to dismiss the lawsuit was denied Tuesday in Wyandotte County District Court.

The alleged incidents occurred in the mid-1980s.

According to the court petition, the priest invited the boy to spend the night at the Topeka church’s rectory and watch a movie. The priest allegedly fondled the boy, performed oral sex and forcibly performed anal sex on the boy. Similar events occurred on multiple occasions in the rectory and at other locations, the lawsuit claims, with the abuse continuing for about three years.