Priest's defamation lawsuit against accuser heads to trial
Madison, Wisconsin -
A Catholic priest's defamation lawsuit against a man who claims the priest abused him as a boy heads to trial in Janesville on Monday.
The case will pit supporters of the priest, the Rev. Gerald Vosen, against advocates for victims of clergy sexual abuse who say the lawsuit is retaliation against a victim.
While hundreds of people have sued priests during the Catholic church's sexual abuse crisis over the past few years, observers say it's unusual for a priest to sue - especially when a church investigation has called the allegation in question credible.
Vosen, on administrative leave from his job as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Baraboo, and his supporters have disputed the abuse allegation and say they look forward to proving it false in court. The lawsuit names the man and his parents and claims their allegation ruined his reputation.
"I hope to get my name cleared," Vosen told The Associated Press in a phone interview from his Merrimac home.
The family's attorney, John Casey of Milwaukee, recently told the Baraboo News Republic the jury will find the man's testimony believable enough to rule in the family's favor. Casey did not return a call for comment Saturday from the AP.
The 26-year-old man and his parents told the Madison Diocese two years ago that Vosen abused him for two years when he was an elementary school student at St. John Vienny Catholic Church in Janesville. Vosen was pastor of the church at the time.
In a sworn affidavit filed in court, the man claims when he was a sixth-grader Vosen warned him of retribution - including that he would go to hell - if the boy ever told others about the abuse.
Read the article at AP Wire Dated July 31, 2005
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A Catholic priest's defamation lawsuit against a man who claims the priest abused him as a boy heads to trial in Janesville on Monday.
The case will pit supporters of the priest, the Rev. Gerald Vosen, against advocates for victims of clergy sexual abuse who say the lawsuit is retaliation against a victim.
While hundreds of people have sued priests during the Catholic church's sexual abuse crisis over the past few years, observers say it's unusual for a priest to sue - especially when a church investigation has called the allegation in question credible.
Vosen, on administrative leave from his job as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Baraboo, and his supporters have disputed the abuse allegation and say they look forward to proving it false in court. The lawsuit names the man and his parents and claims their allegation ruined his reputation.
"I hope to get my name cleared," Vosen told The Associated Press in a phone interview from his Merrimac home.
The family's attorney, John Casey of Milwaukee, recently told the Baraboo News Republic the jury will find the man's testimony believable enough to rule in the family's favor. Casey did not return a call for comment Saturday from the AP.
The 26-year-old man and his parents told the Madison Diocese two years ago that Vosen abused him for two years when he was an elementary school student at St. John Vienny Catholic Church in Janesville. Vosen was pastor of the church at the time.
In a sworn affidavit filed in court, the man claims when he was a sixth-grader Vosen warned him of retribution - including that he would go to hell - if the boy ever told others about the abuse.
Read the article at AP Wire Dated July 31, 2005
posted by God Almighty Himself at 4:17 AM
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