FORT WORTH (TX)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By DARREN BARBEE
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
FORT WORTH -- The attorney for a former Arlington priest made "bald faced claims" when he told a judge that two sisters who accused the priest of sexual misconduct wanted the matter to remain private, according to documents filed in state district court Wednesday.
More questions were also raised on Wednesday about the church investigation into the allegations the sisters made decades ago that the Rev. Joseph Tu Ngoc Nguyen inappropriately kissed them.
In the court documents, the family challenged courtroom statements made last week by Tu's attorney, H. Allen Pennington Jr. of Fort Worth. Pennington said "these ladies do not want their names in the press or in the courtroom," or to be involved in the case.
Pennington made his remarks while urging state District Judge Len Wade to keep closed the Fort Worth Diocese files concerning Tu. The files were sealed as part of another case, and Wade is deciding how to handle Tu's files.
But the sisters and their parents said that no one in the family had spoken to Pennington, according to the documents filed Wednesday. The documents name the family, but the Star-Telegram is not identifying them because of the nature of the case.