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	Judge: Suit against Archdiocese Can Stand Indianapolis Archdiocese Committed Fraud by Moving Abusive Priest, Plaintiff Argues By Jon Murray The Indianapolis Star December 28, 2007 http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071228/LOCAL/712280453/-1/LOCAL17 A judge has refused to throw out a lawsuit claiming the Archdiocese of Indianapolis covered up abuse by a former Catholic priest three decades ago. The ruling by Marion Superior Court Judge David A. Shaheed means the suit could be the first of 13 against the archdiocese to move forward to trial. It alleges fraud, arguing the archdiocese knew of previous abuse by the Rev. Harry Monroe when it moved him in 1976 to St. Catherine's Parish in Indianapolis. No one disputes that the plaintiff suffered abuse, Shaheed wrote. The former altar boy at the Southside parish is called John Doe NM in court documents. His abuse-related claims have been withdrawn, since the statute of limitations ran out long ago. But the judge ruled Dec. 20 against the archdiocese's motion for summary judgment, which sought dismissal of the suit, writing that the six-year statute of limitations on fraud began running only in 2005, when the plaintiff learned that the archdiocese had known of other abuse before Monroe's transfer. "The court has recognized that placing a priest in a parish and giving him responsibility for kids is a representation that that priest is safe around children," said Pat Noaker, a St. Paul, Minn., attorney representing all 13 plaintiffs. "What we won is the right of the plaintiff to press his case." Archdiocesan spokesman Greg Otolski declined to comment on pending litigation and said he hadn't seen the decision. Jay Mercer, the archdiocese's attorney, had not returned a phone message Thursday evening. Noaker said 10 other cases involve similar fraud claims that could be affected favorably by Shaheed's ruling. The John Doe NM case is the first to survive a summary judgment challenge; no trial date is set, but Noaker anticipates going to trial by late 2008. Earlier this month, a deposition transcript filed in court revealed that Monroe admitted under oath that he had engaged in sex acts and lewd behavior with at least five of the 13 plaintiffs. John Doe NM, whose real name is being withheld by The Indianapolis Star, heard the archdiocese's first public acknowledgment of the abuse this month in court. "Harry Monroe was a child molester and a sexual predator who committed some heinous crimes against young boys in the late 1970s and 1980s," Mercer said in a hearing on the motion for summary judgment. "Unfortunately, Harry Monroe never spent any time in jail for these crimes." Mercer argued that the fraud claim should have been made by the time John Doe NM was 20. But the plaintiff has said he learned of the archdiocese's earlier knowledge of Monroe's abusive tendencies from a 2005 article in The Star. During the hearing, Mercer argued that giving Monroe a parish priest assignment did not equate to an endorsement by the church of his character or the threat he posed to children. Call Star reporter Jon Murray at (317) 444-2752.
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