TUCSON (AZ)
Tucson Citizen
SHERYL KORNMAN
Tucson Citizen
George Sanchez, 34, who says he was molested by a priest when he was 12, is among those whose lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson have pushed it into bankruptcy.
George Sanchez says he was 12 when he was sexually molested by the Rev. Julian Sanz during confession in the priest's office.
It changed his life forever.
For many years, Sanchez repressed the memory of what happened inside Sacred Heart Church in Douglas, where he was a devout Catholic.
The Tucson man's lawsuit claiming sexual abuse by the clergyman of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson is among cases that pushed the diocese into U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the fall.
Sanchez, 34, is a client of Tucson attorney Lynne Cadigan.
Her full-court press - with credible accusations of abuse by priests - against the diocese since the late 1990s put Sanchez where he is today, about to be awarded a financial settlement from the diocese for the injury he suffered.
His is among the civil damage cases that were headed for Pima County Superior Court last summer when Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas considered options and chose to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.