DAVENPORT (IA)
Press-Citizen
By The Associated Press
DAVENPORT -- Two men who have accused a former bishop of sex abuse asked a judge Wednesday to force the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport to turn over names of all priests accused of sexual misconduct and other related documents.
Both victims have filed lawsuits accusing former Sioux City Bishop Lawrence Soens of sexual abuse during the 1960s when Soens was principal at Regina High School in Iowa City. Soens retired as bishop in 1998.
The legal tussle for the diocese's list of 25 credibly accused priests, the victims who made the allegations, investigative reports and other related documents stems from more than a dozen lawsuits filed against the diocese and several of its priests in 2002.
At the time, District Judge C.H. Pelton ordered the diocese to turn over the documents. The transfer never happened because the church agreed to settle 37 sex abuse claims for $9 million in November 2004.