March 14, 2005

Lawsuit names former priest John Schmitz

DUBUQUE (IA)
WQAD

DUBUQUE, Iowa A lawsuit has been filed against the Archdiocese of Dubuque by a woman who claims she was sexually abused in 1959 by John Schmitz, a former priest who worked in nine eastern Iowa parishes from 1957 through 1982.

Monsignor James Barta says the archdiocese had been told about the lawsuit but had not yet received a copy. A court clerk confirmed that the lawsuit had been filed Friday but not yet recorded in the court's online database.

The archdiocese says Schmitz, who died in 1991, was ordained February 2nd, 1957. He served in nine parishes over the years: Immaculate Conception, in Lansing; St. Joseph, New Hampton; St. Joseph, Mason City; All Saints, Cedar Rapids; St. Mary, Manchester; St. Joseph, Greeley; St. Peter, Clermont; St. Anthony, Zearing; and St. Mary, Greene.

Posted by kshaw at March 14, 2005 10:14 PM