KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star
By KEVIN MURPHY
The Kansas City Star
Three men have filed lawsuits in Kansas City alleging that a now-retired priest, the Rev. Thomas J. O達rien, sexually abused them in the 1970s and gave them alcohol and pornography.
Craig Wilkerson of St. Joseph and two anonymous plaintiffs separately sued O達rien late Wednesday in Jackson County Circuit Court, seeking unspecified damages. The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph was named as co-defendant.
Wilkerson alleges O達rien sexually molested him starting in 1979 when he was 12 and worked at the rectory of St. Elizabeth Parish in Kansas City.
Plaintiffs identifying themselves as John Doe H.G. and John Doe L.T. said O達rien molested them on trips to a cottage O達rien had at Lake Viking, about 70 miles northeast of Kansas City.
O達rien also is accused of sexual abuse of minors in three lawsuits filed in 2004. Those cases are pending.