DENVER (CO)
Denver Post
By Eric Gorski
Denver Post Staff Writer
Three more men filed lawsuits Tuesday alleging that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver covered up for former priest Harold Robert White despite being warned that he had been accused of molesting boys.
At a news conference across from archdiocesan headquarters, Brandon Trask's hands shook as he recounted how difficult it was to break 30 years of silence and publicly accuse White. He and another man, identified only as John Doe, filed a complaint in Denver District Court against the archdiocese for unspecified damages.
Earlier Tuesday, a Miami lawyer filed a $10 million lawsuit on behalf of 52-year-old Greg Roberts of Fort Collins. The former altar boy says he was 14 or 15 when White molested him at church and a social hall in the mid-1960s.
So far, five men have filed lawsuits against the archdiocese for its handling of White, who in less than a month has become the archdiocese's biggest challenge involving clergy sex abuse since the U.S. church was struck by scandal in 2002.
"We take these suits very, very seriously," said Fran Maier, chancellor of the Denver archdiocese. "We take the claims seriously and the people behind them very seriously. We're committed to the safety of our families, and we are also committed to pursuing the life of the church, and one is not going to interfere with the other."