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A jury finds the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay liable in a civil trial accusing it of fraud.

Todd and Troy Merryfield filed the civil suit against the Diocese after
evidence of other victims came out during John Patrick Feeney’s criminal
trial. An Outagamie County Judge awarded Todd Merryfield $225,000 and
Troy $475,000 in court on Monday.

The case was centered around former priest John Patric Feeney who was
convicted in 2004 of sexually assaulting the brothers in the 1970s.

Both sides issued passionate pleas to the jury.

Two brothers abused by a former priest with the Green Bay Diocese testified in their civil trial Wednesday. Todd and Troy Merryfield are suing the diocese for fraud. They claim the diocese knew, before they were abused, that former priest John Feeney had a history of inappropriate sexual contact with children. There was plenty of emotion shown by both brothers on the stand Wednesday as they told the jury about what happened to them at the hands of John Feeney in 1978 and how it has changed their lives still to this day. “He lifted up my pajama shirt, started rubbing m…

With testimony underway, attorneys for the Merryfields laid the foundation for their case. “We’ll show the diocese knew he had impulse control and the diocese knew he was reckless in not caring whether or not he was a molester,” said Jeff Anderson, attorney for Todd Merryfield. A claim the diocese denies. “These claims are false, untrue and we will show you why,” said Pat Brennan, attorney for the Green Bay Diocese.

APPLETON — A former Fox Valley priest spent nearly eight years in prison for the 1978 sexual assaults of two young parishioners, but his victims say justice hasn’t been fully served.A civil lawsuit that slowly built in Outagamie County’s court system for more than four years heads to trial today as brothers Todd and Troy Merryfield, formerly of Freedom, seek unspecified damages from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay based on their childhood assaults.Over the course of the next two weeks, a jury will determine whether the diocese is civilly responsible based on allegations it knew about s…

At least 32 Roman Catholic priests have fled the country to avoid prosecution since 1985 and only five have returned to face trial, reports the Chicago Tribune.Most of the priests that left were wanted for such serious accusations as alleged sexual abuse or assault charges, yet the courts have proven ineffective at extraditing the clerics in a timely matter. At times the process of extradition has taken so long that prosecutions have dropped the case entirely. (Read The Full Story In The Chicago Tribute)One glaring example is the case of Rev. Raju Policetti, a priest who fled to India in 2002 …

ALBANY — The parents and a younger sister of two victims of alleged sexual abuse by a Greene County priest railed against the church Tuesday afternoon. Standing on a sidewalk a few hundred feet from the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese offices on North Main Avenue, the family detailed the painful fallout from what they say was decades of abuse.With their arms around each other’s shoulders, Ivan Morales Sr. and his wife, Carol Morales, spoke about their sons, Ivan Jr. and Martin, and how they say Rev. Jeremiah Nunan slowly lured each of them into a web of abuse that lasted for years.The Morales’ 2…

A group comprised of child sexual abuse victims and their supporters alleged on Wednesday that officials with the Los Angeles Archdiocese tried to cover up allegations that a former staffer had abused and videotaped a Catholic high school student.KNX 1070’s Vytas Safronikas reports John Malburg was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2009 after pleading guilty to sexually molesting a male student and videotaping another one for commercial purposes.Malburg, 43, was dean of students at now-closed Daniel Murphy Catholic High, which was closed by the Archdiocese in 2007 in an…

A former student of prominent Los Angeles teacher and administrator John
Malburg has filed a lawsuit alleging he was sexually abused by Malburg
in 2006 and that the school and it’s superiors in the Los Angeles
Archdiocese were negligent and could have prevented the sexual abuse.

The disturbing issues surrounding child abuse and what happens to those who report it is a particularly poignant topic given that April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and a trial for former Penn State Coach Jerry Sandusky on fifty-two counts of abuse is fast approaching.As journalists who have collectively spent eighty years in the trenches of the court system and beyond, we’ve repeatedly watched young children tell stories of horrible abuse from the witness stand. In all likelihood, those who accused Sandusky will also face intense questioning whe…

ALBANY — A 74-year-old Greene County priest cleared six years ago of allegations that he sexually abused a minor has been placed on administrative leave as new claims of abuse are investigated, the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese said Saturday.The Rev. Jeremiah Nunan, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Cairo and Our Lady of Knock Mission in East Durham, will be barred from officiating at any sacraments, wearing clerical garb or presenting himself as a priest, according to a statement from the diocese. The action was scheduled to be announced at weekend Masses at the two parishes.The diocese acted …