LOUISVILLE (KY)
Lexington Herald-Leader
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOUISVILLE - Class-action status is being sought in a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse at a Roman Catholic orphanage in Jefferson County over a 50-year period.
Attorney William McMurry said he wants to expand the suit beyond the current 50 plaintiffs because he thinks there are at least several hundred other victims. Judge Denise Clayton will consider the request at a hearing Monday.
A class-action designation would allow victims to make a claim without being publicly identified and would lead to advertising that would notify former orphanage residents who might live across the country and might not know of the litigation or of their rights, McMurry said.
McMurry, with attorney Ann Oldfather, represented 243 plaintiffs who settled with the Archdiocese of Louisville for $25.7 million in 2003 over sexual abuse by parish priests and others.
The suit filed last year against the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and the Archdiocese of Louisville's Catholic Charities alleges sexual abuse and other physical abuse during about 50 years, primarily at three orphanages.
Posted by kshaw at July 24, 2005 07:55 AM