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	Girl Sues Archdiocese in Sex Case By Jay Weaver Bradenton Herald [Pinecrest FL] March 7, 2007 http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/nation/16853131.htm A teenage girl says a youth minister at her Catholic church in Pinecrest sexually assaulted her during a Vermont field trip and other activities last year, according to a lawsuit filed today against the Archdiocese of Miami. The negligence suit claims the pastor of St. Louis Catholic Church, the Rev. James Fetscher, was aware of sexual misconduct by the youth minister, Anthony B. Ricco, 19, as far back as 2004 but did not report it to authorities as required by law. An archdiocese spokeswoman strongly denied the accusation, saying church officials first learned about the allegations against Ricco last April when Pinecrest police notified them about plans to arrest the youth minister at his home. "Had it been brought to our attention before then, we would have immediately reported it to the police," spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta said, stressing that the archdiocese cooperated with authorities. She said the archdiocese has strictly followed state laws requiring the reporting of any knowledge of a sexual assault complaint by a minor — especially in the aftermath of a 2002 clergy sex-abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic church nationwide. In December, Ricco pleaded no contest to nine counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a child between 12 and 16 — including the alleged victim who filed suit — and he was sentenced to two years of house arrest and 10 years of probation. The criminal charges involved two female victims, ages 13 and 15, who alleged Rico touched their private parts under their clothing. As part of his plea agreement with the Miami-Dade state attorney's office, the judgment against Ricco was withheld by Circuit Judge William Thomas. That means Ricco, a first-time offender, technically has no criminal record. Ricco's lawyer, Richard Hersch, said the plea agreement and sentence were "authorized by the parents" of both victims. He said his client underwent a full psychological evaluation. He said the two victims told Pincrest and Miami-Dade police that the sexual activity was consensual. "They told police they were never forced to do anything," Hersch said, explaining why his client was charged with the second-degree felony of lewd and lascivious battery and not first-degree sexual battery. 'Whenever they said, 'No, I feel uncomfortable,' he stopped." In her suit, the unidentified girl alleges that "Ricco groomed [her] and manipulated her into a sexual relationship with him. He sexually assaulted [her] on numerous occasions in March and April 2006." Her attorney, Jeffrey Herman, claims in the suit that Ricco's supervisors at St. Louis' New Life ministry, the Rev. Fetscher and senior youth minister Paul Herring, "had been advised and informed that Ricco was a child sex molester long before Ricco sexually assaulted [her]." Herman said that rather than remove Ricco as a youth minister, his supervisors "placed him in a position where he could molest more girls." E-mail: jweaver@MiamiHerald.com
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