ALBANY (NY)
Newsday
September 7, 2005, 3:41 PM EDT
ALBANY, N.Y. -- A Roman Catholic church here has obtained a temporary restraining order against an attorney who it said harassed parishioners and publicly accused a pastor of sexual abuse, the church said Wednesday.
Holy Cross Church and School obtained the order against John Aretakis, who has brought several sex-abuse lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany in recent years.
In a statement released Wednesday, the church said Aretakis has been involved in at least three confrontations with parishioners and neighbors at the church since June when he and a small group began picketing Sunday masses and leafleting cars.
Aretakis also publicly accused the pastor, Rev. Daniel Maher, of sexually abusing a minor 30 years ago, according to the release.
Aretakis is the attorney for Thomas Clements, who filed a lawsuit in May alleging that Maher raped him twice when he was an altar boy at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in West Albany.