KENTUCKY
Lexington Herald-Leader
By Frank E. Lockwood
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
Former Covington Bishop Richard H. Ackerman was warned that a Lexington priest was a pedophile who preyed on boys, but the bishop did nothing to warn parishioners that they had a predator in their midst, according to court records unsealed yesterday.
Horrified parents urged church officials to stop the Rev. John B. Modica, assistant pastor at Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary from 1974 to 1978, but they were ignored.
Documents in a sex abuse lawsuit against the Diocese of Covington portray an out-of-control priest and a church hierarchy that backed him anyway. The internal church records, hidden from view for decades, were made public yesterday.
The Herald-Leader and one of Modica's alleged victims, Sam Greywolf of Lexington, had asked Circuit Court Judge Mary Noble to unseal the records. This week, the diocese said it would no longer object to unsealing them. Diocesan attorney Carrie Huff could not be reached for comment.