SPOKANE (WA)
Irish Examiner
A woman has claimed she was sexually abused more than 40 years ago by the president of the US Conference of Catholic bishops.
Bishop William Skylstad issued a statement yesterday categorically denying the accusation, saying he has not violated the vow of celibacy he took 47 years ago.
The claim was filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, in Washington state, in the United States, by a woman who said she was under the age of 18 when Skylstad sexually abused her at St Patrick’s Parish and at Gonzaga University from December 1961 to December 1964.
Skylstad, 70, was a student at Gonzaga University from 1962 to 1966 and taught mathematics to students at Mater Cleri Seminary at Colbert, north of Spokane.