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	Lawsuits Filed against Ex-Bishop in Davenport Are Dropped Des Moines Register May 30, 2009 http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090530/NEWS/905300329/1001 An attorney for a dozen men who claim they were abused by former Roman Catholic Bishop Lawrence Soens says the men have dropped their lawsuits. Craig Levien said the lawsuits, which had been filed in 2006 in Scott County District Court in Davenport, were dismissed without prejudice last week. He said the move is an attempt to free the Catholic Church to punish Soens. Levien said in other cases, the church has avoided taking disciplinary action against a priest if there is a pending lawsuit. Soens was accused of sexually abusing students at Regina High School in Iowa City in the 1950s and 1960s when he was the principal. Last November, the Catholic Diocese of Davenport announced that a diocesan review board had found him guilty of sexually abusing students in Iowa City. He was also found guilty of sexually abusing a boy when he was rector of the St. Ambrose Seminary in Davenport. Soens served as bishop of the Sioux City Diocese from 1983 to 1998. Soens, now in his 80s, is retired.
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