BishopAccountability.org
	Green Bay Diocese Sued over Case of Alleged Abuse Insurance Company Says It Doesn't Have to Pay for Intentional Acts By Andy Nelesen Herald Times Reporter May 29, 2008 http://www.htrnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080529/MAN0101/80529030/1984/MANsports The Catholic Diocese of Green Bay has been sued by its insurance company, which claims it doesn't have to defend or pay lawsuit damages for the church because the alleged abuse by the Rev. John Patrick Feeney — and church officials' decisions not to warn other parishioners when reassigning Feeney — were intentional acts. The lawsuit was filed May 15 in Brown County Circuit Court. No court dates have been set yet. The diocese filed a claim with Indiana Insurance Co. to have the insurer pay for its defense in a priest abuse civil suit pending in a Clark County, Nev., court. The insurance company claims in the Brown County suit that its policies with the diocese do not provide liability coverage for any of the Nevada allegations "because the acts complained of are not accidental, but instead are intentional in nature " The Nevada suit, filed in January by "John Doe 119," claims he was abused at the age of 13 by Feeney while Feeney served as a priest at St. Francis De Sales Parish in Las Vegas. Feeney was assigned there from September 1984 to June 1985 after having numerous assignments in Wisconsin. "Defendant Diocese of Green Bay knew that Feeney had sexually molested numerous children and that Feeney was a danger to children before Feeney molested plaintiff," the Nevada suit claims, seeking unspecified damages in excess of $20,000, legal fees and "any other relief the court deems just and proper." The Nevada suit — filed against the Bishop of Las Vegas, the Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas, the diocese of Green Bay and Feeney — claims negligence and fraud on the part of the Green Bay diocese and negligence on the part of the Reno-Las Vegas diocese. The suit also makes a claim of battery against Feeney. Feeney, now 81, was convicted in 2004 and is serving 15 years in jail for assaulting two boys in Freedom, a case unrelated to the Nevada claim. Feeney has been laicized and is no longer a priest. Green Bay diocese officials were not available for comment Wednesday.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.