FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram
By MAX B. BAKER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
FORT WORTH - State District Judge Len Wade agreed Thursday to release documents from the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese concerning clerics accused of abusing children, but only after he reviews the records, removing information that would identify accusers and church lay workers.
Information about the six clerics' personal finances, as well as their medical and mental-health treatment, will not be included in the records that Wade plans to release to attorneys representing the accusers or to the news media, Wade said.
Wade did not decide how to handle the records of the Rev. Joseph Tu Ngoc Nguyen of Houston. He has been accused of having inappropriate contact with several girls and young women while working at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Arlington. He is the only one of the accused clerics still actively involved in the ministry.
Wade didn't indicate how soon the records will be released because he plans to review every page. Attorneys involved said the files apparently include about 600 pages of employment records.