DAVENPORT (IA)
WQAD
By Kelly Hessedal
DAVENPORT - Tonight a Davenport man relives painful memories of a former pastor he says abused him when he was a child.
Michael Uhde recently filed a lawsuit against the Davenport Diocese and Msgr. Thomas Feeney. He says the abuse began while he was an alter boy at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport. He says Feeney took him on bird watching outings at Credit Island Park and molested him.
"I'd buried it, put it away for all those years," said Uhde. "It's ruined my life in a lot of ways, robbed my childhood innocence, my dreams."
"It's a very painful thing for anyone to go through," he added.
Painful - even though Feeney passed away in 1981-and Uhde's now 55 years old. He says he filed a lawsuit against the diocese after he requested an independent investigation into Feeney's career and was denied. He says he's looking for answers to many questions.