DAVENPORT (IA)
Quad-City Times
By Todd Ruger
A defrocked priest from the Catholic Diocese of Davenport is refusing to disclose his current address as part of a lawsuit accusing him of sexually abusing boys decades ago.
At the same time, attorneys for the men accusing him of the abuse are refusing to tell James Janssen their share of a $9 million settlement with the diocese announced more than four months ago.
Arguments on those legal wranglings Wednesday before Iowa District Court Judge C.H. Pelton restarted court action since the October settlement in sexual abuse lawsuits filed against Janssen and other former diocesan priests.
The plaintiffs dismissed the diocese from the lawsuits in January as part of the settlement made with 36 men and one woman but are continuing legal action against the individual priests.
The priests — Janssen, who was removed from the priesthood by the pope, the Rev. Francis Bass, the Rev. William Wiebler, the late Rev. Theodore Geerts and Vicar General Monsignor Drake Shafer — have denied the accusations in court records.
Posted by kshaw at March 16, 2005 07:30 PM