CINCINNATI (OH)
Cincinnati Enquirer
By Dan Horn
Enquirer staff writer
A former altar boy claimed in a civil lawsuit Monday that a Cincinnati priest raped him repeatedly for years, and church leaders did nothing to protect him.
The suit, which accuses the Rev. Raymond Larger of sexual abuse, was filed in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court just days after a grand jury indicted the priest on criminal charges of rape, sexual battery and gross sexual imposition in connection with the same accuser.
The 54-year-old Larger, who has been suspended, has vehemently denied the charges.
The case could be a crucial test for the church - and for alleged victims - because it involves an accuser who had sought money through a $3 million victims' compensation fund established by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
The 134 people who signed up for the fund were required to sign a waiver prohibiting them from pursuing legal action against the church.
As the first challenge to that waiver, Monday's lawsuit could affect accusers who were denied compensation through the fund as well as those who may have been unsatisfied with the compensation they received.