PEORIA (IL)
Journal Star
Thursday, December 1, 2005
By MICHAEL MILLER
of the Journal Star
PEORIA - Nine civil lawsuits accusing five priests and one nun of sexual abuse were filed Wednesday, hours after alleged victims demanded more "transparency" by the Catholic Diocese of Peoria.
The lawsuits were filed against the diocese, the clergy members and the parishes where they worked. Some of the alleged incidents, dating as far back as the 1950s, occurred in Peoria and Tazewell counties.
Priests named in the lawsuits were the Revs. Norman Goodman, Walter Breuning, Edward Bush, Toussaint J. Perron and Louis Condon. All of them previously had been removed from public ministry by the diocese, in some cases because of allegations brought by some of those bringing the new lawsuits, diocesan officials said.
Criminal charges have only been brought against Perron, who served three years in prison in the 1990s for sexual assault. It was unclear whether that case involved the man now accusing him.