WATERLOO (IA)
Sioux City Journal
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) -- Two more lawsuits have been filed against the Archdiocese of Dubuque alleging sexual abuse by former priests in the 1960s and '70s.
One lawsuit names the Rev. Patrick McElliott, who served as pastor of St. John's Catholic Church in Waterloo from 1954 to 1963. It is the fourth lawsuit filed this year naming McElliott, who died in 1987.
A second lawsuit names the Rev. William T. Schwartz, who was stripped of priestly duties in the 1980s by former Archbishop Daniel Kucera and now lives in Arizona. It is the fourth such lawsuit filed within the past year naming Schwartz, who served as spiritual director at Columbus High School from 1975 to 1979 and as associate pastor at St. John's in the early 1960s.
The lawsuits, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids, seek unspecified damages. Both lawsuits allege that the archdiocese "either knew or should have known" of each priest's alleged conduct "and purposefully or intentionally failed to take action."
Schwartz, contacted at home Thursday evening, referred all questions to his attorney, Robert Day, of Dubuque, who did not immediately return a telephone message left Friday.
In the past two years, the Dubuque Archdiocese has received more than 30 reports of abuse dating as far back as 1950.