SPRINGFIELD (MA)
Republican
Thursday, December 30, 2004
By STEPHANIE BARRY
sbarry@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - In a first for the region, a former nun is among local clergy accused of sexually abusing minors in a suit filed yesterday by five men.
The suit targeting the former nun, three priests and a former Boy Scout leader was filed in Hampden Superior Court the same day the local Catholic diocese removed the Rev. Michael H. Devlin, 62, from ministry in an unrelated case following molestation allegations.
The suit, filed anonymously under the names John Doe, also accuses the Springfield Roman Catholic Diocese of conspiring to cover up the abuse, which allegedly began decades ago.
All but former nun Mary Jane Vidnansky have previously been named in sexual abuse lawsuits. Two deceased priests - J. Roy Jenness and Thomas J. O'Connor - also are named in the lawsuit along with the Rev. Alfred C. Graves, former Boy Scout leader Bruce A. Mooney, the Boy Scouts of America and the diocese.
One of five John Does behind yesterday's claim said the nun, once a member of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph who taught at Mater Dolorosa School in Holyoke, became pregnant during a two-year sexual relationship in the mid-1970s.
A lawyer for the men said Vidnansky told the alleged victim she had had an abortion and left the order in 1976. He also said the plaintiff provided an old report card signed by Vidnansky, photographs of the woman he says were shot in his bedroom and a lock of her hair.
Posted by kshaw at December 30, 2004 07:20 AM