DENVER (CO)
CBS 4
(AP) DENVER A state court, not a federal court, should hear lawsuits filed against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver alleging sexual abuse by clergy, a federal judge has ruled, The Denver Post reported.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock on Friday rejected the archdiocese's attempts to move the lawsuits from state court, where they were filed.
The lawsuits were filed by men alleging they were abused by former priest Harold Robert White and the Rev. Leonard Abercrombie when the plaintiffs were children. They allege church officials failed to shield them from abuse though they knew of abuse allegations against the priests.
White told CBS4 in August that the allegations contained "half truths." Abercrombie died in 1994. The archdiocese has said it does not comment on ongoing litigation.