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	New Abuse Claim against Priest By Ariadne Massa Times of Malta October 26, 2006 http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=241097 A second former altar boy has surfaced in Miami alleging he was sexually abused in the 1970s by the same retired Gozitan priest who has been accused of molesting disgraced American Congressman Mark Foley. The Archdiocese of Miami last night confirmed it had been informed by the media of a lawsuit and a second allegation of misconduct against Fr Anthony Mercieca. The fresh allegations against Fr Mercieca were made by a man who lived in North Miami and was an altar boy at St James Catholic Church, where the 72-year-old priest worked, the man's attorney Jeffrey Herman told the American media yesterday. Mr Herman planned to file a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Miami. His client, now 40 and identified in the lawsuit only as John Doe No. 26, claims Fr Mercieca abused him when he was about 12 years old. On Friday the Archdiocese barred the priest from all Church work as it investigated Mr Foley's claim that the clergyman had molested him as a teenager. It also encouraged others who had been victims of inappropriate behaviour or abuse by Fr Mercieca to come forward. "My client had been thinking about it before Foley came forward, and then when Foley came out and the Church encouraged other victims to come forward, he decided to come forward," Mr Herman said. In multiple interviews last week, Fr Mercieca denied having sexual intercourse with Mr Foley but he did acknowledge being nude with him when Mr Foley was a boy. Fr Mercieca also denied having sex with any underage children. He has since been instructed to refrain from talking to the media and to seek legal advice. Mr Herman said his client and Fr Mercieca took a bicycle ride together one day after altar boy practice and then returned to the church where the abuse occurred. The allegations do not extend to sexual intercourse. "He attempted on another occasion following altar boy practice, but the boy declined to go on this bike ride and he never went back to the church after that," he added. Fr Mercieca served as an assistant pastor at the church from 1975 to 1985, according to church records. Mr Foley, 52, resigned from Congress last month after he was confronted with sexually explicit computer communications he had sent to male teenage pages who worked on Capitol Hill. He has since entered a 30-day rehabilitation programme for alcoholism, according to his attorneys. When contacted last night, a spokesman for the Gozo Curia said the diocese was still working closely with the Miami Church, but would not give further comments. Last week Gozo Bishop Mario Grech instructed a response team to investigate the allegations according to the policies established by the Maltese Ecclesiastical Province with regard to cases of sexual abuse in pastoral activity, and present him with a report. Mgr Grech will pass all information he receives regarding this case to the Response Team. In the statement issued by the Archdiocese of Miami late last night it was stated that in the norms of Catholic Church law, when an allegation of sexual abuse or misconduct is received by the archdiocese, Archbishop John Favalora initiates an internal investigation of this allegation. In addition, a report of this allegation is made to the appropriate State Attorney's office and pastoral and psychological counselling is offered to the alleged victim. It reiterated that the alleged actions of Fr Mercieca were previously unknown to the archdiocese.
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