FORT WORTH (TX)
Telegram & Gazette
Kathleen A. Shaw Telegram & Gazette Staff
kshaw@telegram.com
A hearing on whether to dismiss a suit brought by two Texas men who said they were sexually abused by the Rev. Thomas H. Teczar, a priest of the Worcester Diocese, began yesterday in Tarrant County District Court in Fort Worth, Texas.
The hearing was adjourned yesterday afternoon and will resume at 9 a.m. today.
Two men, identified as John Doe I and John Doe II, allege they were sexually abused by Rev. Teczar when he left Worcester and took an assignment in the Fort Worth Diocese.
The alleged incidents happened in Ranger, Texas.
The suit named the Fort Worth Diocese, Bishop Joseph P. Delaney of Fort Worth, individually and as bishop; Rev. Teczar, the Worcester Diocese; and Bishop George E. Rueger of Worcester, individually.
Rev. Teczar served in Worcester parishes until his faculties to perform as a priest were removed by Bishop Timothy J. Harrington.
In Texas, he was given permission to perform priestly duties by Bishop Delaney.
Rev. Teczar said that he has never met John Doe II and only knows John Doe I from a Ranger gas station.
The two men claim there was a conspiracy to move Rev. Teczar from Worcester to Texas and back again to avoid allegations of sexual misconduct.
The dioceses are seeking to dismiss the suit on grounds that the statute of limitations has run out and other issues.