November 03, 2005

Church Letters Point To History Of Abuse

SOUTH DAKOTA
Keloland

Did the Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese know about Father Bruce MacArthur's long history of sex abuse, but chose to cover it up?

That's what one of his victims is claiming tonight. Judy DeLonga reached an out of court settlement with the catholic church in a civil lawsuit that accused MacArthur of raping and sexually abusing her for several years.

But according to internal church documents supplied to us by DeLonga's attorney, DeLonga wasn't the only victim and the church may have done little to protect other children.

Judy DeLonga was only 10 years old when Father Bruce MacArthur began raping her.

"The abuse was severe and frequent, it was rape and he continued to stalk me for years after he left town," said DeLonga.

Posted by kshaw at November 3, 2005 07:37 AM