NASHVILLE (TN)
Tennessean
By SHEILA BURKE
Staff Writer
Two young men who claimed they were molested by a former Catholic priest when they were children have settled their lawsuit with the Diocese of Nashville, avoiding a trial set to begin in March.
The settlement agreement brings an end to six years of bitter litigation that went all the way to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
It was the only sex abuse lawsuit involving the Catholic church in Middle Tennessee, said Rick Musacchio, a spokesman for the diocese.
The amount paid to the pair, known in court documents only as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2, will not be revealed to the public. Both men are now about age 25, a lawyer for them said.
The case was unusual because the man accused of molesting the two, former Nashville priest Ed McKeown, had been forced to leave the priesthood years before the men say they were abused. McKeown is serving a 25-year prison sentence for raping and molesting one of the plaintiffs.