ROCKFORD (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
Associated Press
ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Catholic Diocese of Rockford said Friday that a now deceased priest accused of abusing a teen in 1969 never was under the diocese's direction.
The Rev. Theodore Feely was a member of the Franciscan order and did not work for the diocese, spokesman Owen Phelps said in a statement. Diocese officials first learned of abuse allegations against Feely four years ago, Phelps said.
Feely died in 1991.
Both the diocese and the Chicago-based Conventual Franciscans of St. Bonaventure Province were named in the lawsuit filed in Winnebago County Circuit Court Thursday by Donald Bondick of Rockford.
Bondick accuses Feely of raping him in 1969 when he was 13. His lawsuit seeks more than $50,000.