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	Suit against Vermont Diocese Goes to Trial Wednesday By John Curran Newsday June 15, 2007 http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny—priestsextrial0615jun15,0,6073249. story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork Burlington, Vt. — A civil suit accusing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington of negligence in its handling of priest sex cases goes to trial Wednesday, the first of its kind to reach a Vermont jury. The victim, a 46-year-old Virginia Beach, Va., man, says former Rev. Alfred Willis sexually abused him in 1977 at a Latham, N.Y., motel and at his childhood home in Derby and that the Diocese actively tried to block Willis' criminal prosecution. Jury selection is slated for Monday and Tuesday in Chittenden Superior Court. The man filed suit in 2004, accusing Willis of performing a sex act on him as he slept in a motel while in New York state to attend his brother's deaconate ceremony. He was 16 at the time. Six months later, Willis _ a friend of the man's parents _ visited the family in Derby and attempted a sex act on the man but was rebuffed, according to the suit. Asked why the victim didn't come forward earlier, his lawyer, Jerome O'Neill, said: "For many people who have been sexually abused, they do not recognize that the difficulties they experience in their life are due to the childhood sexual abuse. He has been aware throughout of the fact that he had been abused. The question is when do you realize these different difficulties are due to it," O'Neill said Friday. Willis, who denies the allegations, was initially named as a defendant but has since settled out of court. He was defrocked in 1985 after being accused of molesting altar boys in Burlington, Milton and Montpelier. The suit focuses on the Diocese's response, accusing it of disregarding the welfare of children and covering up for pedophile priests. The church contends it didn't know of Willis' "misbehavior" until February 1978 and can't be held accountable for it. "The Diocese had no prior knowledge of any sexual misconduct with minors by Willis, or of any pedophilic tendencies on his part," Diocese lawyer Thomas E. McCormick said in court filing last week. According to court papers filed by the victim's attorneys, then-Bishop John A. Marshall tried in 1981 to pressure then-Chittenden County State's Attorney Mark Keller into not prosecuting Willis. The court papers quote former Deputy State's Attorney Susan Via, a sex crimes prosecutor who was present. In the meeting, Marshall told Keller the families of Willis' alleged victims didn't want him prosecuted, according to Via. When Keller appeared unconvinced, Marshall's conciliatory demeanor changed suddenly, Via said in a deposition. "Bishop Marshall then puts his head back and tells the Catholic State's Attorney, Mark Keller, a graduate of St. Michael's College and Notre Dame College, that if he persists in going forward with prosecuting the priest in the face of the families' lack of desire to have a prosecution, the church's assurance that the priest will never reoffend, that the priest is receiving treatment and is remorseful, it could be viewed by the church as committing the sin of scandal," the court papers said. "Mark Keller looked like he had been slapped," Via said. The state tried to prosecute Willis but couldn't because the victims' parents refused to cooperate, according to Via. If her deposition is allowed in the trial, the Diocese plans to call Keller to refute it, McCormick's filing said. "There are indeed substantial questions of law, including what is proper admissible evidence with respect to (the victim's) claims and (the victim's) facts," Diocese lawyer David Cleary said Friday. "Unfortunately, the case will not be tried in that limited atmosphere," he said. Willis, who now lives in Leesburg, Va., will not attend the trial or testify. In a letter to Cleary last week, he said declining health, employment obligations and limited financial resources prevented him from attending. "As I told you in the past, the claims against me are extremely upsetting and in the (victim's) case, to the best of my memory, unfounded," he wrote. The trial is expected to last about two weeks.
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