Seminarian abused altar boy beginning in 1996 at Incarnation of Our Lord Parish in Philadelphia
(Philadelphia, PA) Prominent clergy abuse attorneys Jeff Anderson, Dan Monahan and Marci Hamilton announced a new lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, Cardinal Justin Rigali and Father William Ayers, on behalf of a Philadelphia man (John Doe 187) who alleges he was sexually abused from 1996 through 1999 by Ayers at Incarnation of Our Lord Parish in Philadelphia.
The clergy abuse lawsuit is the seventh civil claim brought by Anderson and his co-counsel Dan Monahan and Marci Hamilton since the January, 2011, Grand Jury report concerning the cover-up of sexual abuse by clergy in the Diocese of Philadelphia.
Anderson said the victim, who was an altar boy at Incarnation, was first abused in 1996 when Ayers was a seminarian at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, and was assigned to Incarnation in the summer months. “Unfortunately,” Anderson said, “the archdiocese then ordained Ayers in 1999 and sent him to serve as a priest at Incarnation of Our Lord.”
Currently, Ayres is residing at Villa Saint Joseph, a home for retired priests of the Archdiocese in Darby, Pennsylvania where he is on suspension and must refrain from the public exercise of his priestly ministry during these investigations.
Note: Copies of the civil complaint and the 2011 Grand Jury Report involving the Archdiocese of Philadelphia are available under “Case Resources” at: www.AndersonAdvocates.com