TUCSON (AZ)
Arizona Daily Star
By Stephanie Innes
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.10.2006
Former Catholic school teacher and accused child molester Phillip Gregory Speers will not receive any money from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson.
Federal Bankruptcy Judge James M. Marlar this week dismissed a claim for money that Speers, 33, filed against the diocese last year.
Speers, a Tucson native and University of Arizona graduate, sought compensation from the diocese's bankrupt estate under its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, claiming the diocese used him as a scapegoat during the priest-abuse crisis.
Speers claimed he was maliciously and falsely accused of molesting girls in the second-grade class he taught at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School in Yuma, and that the diocese was responsible. Yuma is part of the local diocese, which includes nine counties.
The diocese's insurance company paid five of the girls who said they were his victims, plus their families, a $1.8 million settlement in 2003.