May 12, 2006

Diocese: Former vicar general abused minors

DES MOINES (IA)
WQAD

DES MOINES, Iowa The Davenport diocese has acknowledged that its former vicar general sexually molested children.

Monsignor Thomas Feeney has been named in at least two lawsuits alleging sexual abuse. The diocese had not previously commented on the allegations but issued a statement today saying it has found evidence that the former second-in-command abused children.

Feeney, who has been dead for 25 years, is accused of sexually abusing a ten-year-old boy while he was pastor of the Sacred Heart Cathedral in the 1960s. Another lawsuit alleges Feeney sexually abused a seven-year-old boy while on bird-watching trips to Credit Island.

Posted by kshaw at May 12, 2006 07:27 AM