November 09, 2005

Ex-altar boy sues Sarasota priest, claims sex abuse

SARASOTA (FL)
St. Petersburg Times

By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
Published November 9, 2005

SARASOTA - A St. Petersburg man is suing a Catholic priest who he says sexually abused him when he was an altar boy 20 years ago.

The man filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Sarasota County naming the Rev. George E. Brennan as his abuser. The suit also alleges a coverup of the abuse and names Bishop John J. Nevins, who oversees the 10-county Venice diocese, as a defendant.

The St. Petersburg man is not identified in the suit. He is a local businessman in his early 30s, said his attorney, Joseph H. Saunders.

The man claims Brennan sexually abused him around 1984 when he was 11 years old. The suit says Brennan sodomized the boy about four times at Incarnation Catholic Church in Sarasota while he was a seminarian.

Posted by kshaw at November 9, 2005 07:53 AM