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	Priest Abuse Case Goes to Jury Today By Sam Hemingway Burlington Free Press December 4, 2007 http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071204/NEWS01/712040310/1009&theme= Closing arguments are scheduled for this morning in the trial of a Virginia man who says the state's Roman Catholic diocese is at fault for his molestation by a priest in 1977. James Turner, 47, of Virginia Beach, Va., claims that the Rev. Alfred Willis performed a sex act on him at a Latham, N.Y., motel room as family and friends who had attended a religious ceremony for Turner's brother slept nearby. Turner was 16 at the time of the incident. The diocese does not dispute the molestation claim but has contended it had no knowledge of Willis' potential for sexual misconduct prior to the incident with Turner. Willis, who was banned from priestly work in 1980 amid allegations he had molested boys in Burlington, Montpelier and Milton, has settled separately with Turner. Turner is seeking monetary damages from the diocese for negligent supervision of Willis. Monday, presiding Judge Matthew Katz turned aside a request by lawyers for the diocese to throw out the case on the grounds Turner took too long to file his claim for damages, clearing the way for today's closing arguments. Diocesan lawyers have argued that Turner in 1981 told his brother and mother about the motel molestation and may have told his second wife about it later. Turner told the jury he did not realize the impact of the incidents on his life until 2002. Katz issued a ruling saying he would let the jury determine the timeliness of Turner's lawsuit. Turner, in testimony last week, said he didn't know what to do when he awoke in the night at the motel to find Willis molesting him. Willis was friends with Turner's brother, Bernard Turner, who was about to be ordained a priest. Turner said seven other family members and friends were in the room when the abuse occurred. "I couldn't comprehend what was going on," he told the jury. "Next morning, I felt dirty, absolutely dirty and filthy." Turner said he didn't wake up anyone or try to fight off Willis because he was too stunned to know what to do. He said he did repel Willis several months later when Willis tried to repeat the sexual act during a visit to the Turner family home in Derby. The diocese, through its lawyers, has argued the church had no reason to be suspicious of Willis when the 1977 incidents with Turner took place. The only "glitch" on Willis' record, church attorney Tom McCormick told jurors last week, was an incident involving "alleged homosexual contact" at seminary school that was reported to the diocese's vocation director several years prior to the motel incident. "Investigation failed to reveal substantiation to this concern," McCormick told the jury last week. As a result, McCormick said the matter was not pursued further. The trial, which began last Monday, was the second in the case. The first trial on Turner's claims was declared a mistrial in June after the judge in the case ruled that the diocese had violated a pre-trial ruling by pursuing an off-limits line of questioning. The diocese was later ordered to pay Turner and his lawyers $112,000 in court costs as punishment. The jury will deliberate on the case after lawyers for the two sides make their closing arguments, beginning at 9 a.m. Another 24 cases alleging child sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Vermont remain pending in Chittenden County Superior Court. Contact Sam Hemingway at 660-1850 or e-mail at shemingway@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com
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