New lawsuit names Milwaukee diocese, former priest in alleged 1982 sex abuse

Milwaukee, Wisconsin —

The Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee is named in a newly filed lawsuit.

The suit alleges that a priest accused of sexually abusing an altar boy in 1982 was known by church officials before then to have molested boys.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court against the archdiocese and former priest Franklyn Becker, as well as an insurance company for the defendants.

It was filed by Charles Linneman, 36, of Sugar Grove, Ill., who contends he was sexually abused at the age of 14 at the priest’s living quarters at a Milwaukee area parish.

Linneman said it was difficult to talk publicly about what happened, but he felt he had to do it. “I think he’s still a danger to young boys,” he said.

The lawsuit, seeking unspecified damages, states that Becker was ordained as a priest by the Milwaukee archdiocese in 1964 and had past incidents involving boys before being transferred to a parish in San Diego, Calif., in 1978 and subsequently accused of molesting a boy there.

Read te article at Post-Crescent Dated May 17, 2005

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