ROCKFORD (IL)
Rockford Register Star
By Edith C. Webster
ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
A man who previously made allegations of sexual misconduct against a priest filed a lawsuit this week against him and the Catholic Diocese of Rockford.
Andrew Howell, address unknown, filed a suit in Cook County against the diocese and William Joffe, who previously served as a priest in the diocese.
“We have referred the matter to our legal counsel, but there is nothing new here, other than the complainant’s name,” Owen Phelps, spokesman for the diocese, said in a written statement. “This case has been a matter of public record since June 2004.”
Joffe served a year in prison in 1992 for embezzling more than $265,000 from a parish in Harvard. He was dismissed from priestly duties in 1993 by then-Bishop Arthur J. O’Neill.