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	Teen Sexually Abused by Priest Sues Diocese, Officials By Mike Chalmers The News Journal September 20, 2007 http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070920/NEWS/70920033 An 18-year-old New York man who was sexually abused by a former Delaware priest sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington and its leaders today for letting the priest quietly retire despite knowing about similar abuse allegations here. In the suit, Michael Dingle, of Liverpool, N.Y., claims diocesan leaders should have notified their counterparts in upstate New York of abuse allegations against the Rev. Francis G. DeLuca when he retired there in 1993. Instead, DeLuca retained the stature of priesthood and used it to sexually abuse Dingle more than 300 times from age 12 or 13 until age 17, said his attorney, Stephen Neuberger. DeLuca knew Dingle and his family because he is Dingle's great-uncle, Neuberger said. DeLuca, 77, pleaded guilty in June to criminal charges that he abused Dingle and was sentenced last week to 60 days in prison and six years of probation on two of the five misdemeanor charges. Syracuse City Court Judge Kate Rosenthal dropped the other three charges. DeLuca also must register as a sex offender. Delaware diocese officials let DeLuca retire to his hometown of Syracuse in 1993, shortly after learning about sexual abuse allegations against him from the 1960s. DeLuca spent 35 years ministering in Delaware parishes, including St. John the Beloved, St. Elizabeth, Holy Spirit and St. Matthew. DeLuca also faces a federal lawsuit by Robert Quill, 52, of Marathon, Fla., who said the priest sexually abused him more than 300 times from 1968 to 1975. Quill grew up in the St. Elizabeth parish and graduated from St. Elizabeth High School. Quill's suit is the first filed under a new state law that eliminated the state's two-year civil statute of limitations in cases of child sexual abuse. The law, which became effective in July, gives those whose cases were barred by the old time limit two years to file suit. Read complete coverage Friday in The News Journal and at www.delawareonline.com. Reach Mike Chalmers at 324-2790 or mchalmers@delawareonline.com.
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