IOWA CITY (IA)
Sioux City Journal
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -- A former student at a Roman Catholic high school in Iowa City filed a lawsuit Tuesday accusing the former principal, who later became bishop at the Sioux City diocese, of sexual abuse.
The lawsuit marks the second time this year that former Bishop Lawrence Soens has been accused of molesting students during his tenure as principal at Regina High School in Iowa City.
The lawsuit also names the high school and the Davenport Diocese. The diocese oversees the school and last fall paid $9 million to settle 37 lawsuits that accused several of its priests of molesting children at parishes across eastern Iowa in the last 50 years.
Soens is accused of ordering the student, who at the time was under 18, to report to a private meeting at the principal's office, where the improper sexual conduct occurred.
The lawsuit claims Soens arranged the meeting because he was investigating an incident of student misconduct, a similar claim made in the first lawsuit naming Soens.