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	Lawsuit against Green Bay Archdiocese to Move Forward By Annysa Johnson Milwaukee Journal Sentinel December 9, 2010 http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/111601479.html A civil fraud lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay will move forward in a case involving a now-defrocked priest in prison for molesting two brothers in 1978, an Outagamie County judge has ruled. In rejecting the diocese's motion to dismiss, Judge Nancy Krueger said there was sufficient evidence to suggest the diocese knew of Father John Patrick Feeney's sexual involvement with children as far back as the 1960s, and that the case was within the statute of limitations for fraud. The lawsuit was filed by Troy and Todd Merryfield, who allege that Feeney sexually assaulted them when he was assigned to St. Nicholas Parish in Freedom. Feeney, 83, was convicted in 2004 in a criminal trial and is serving a 15-year prison term. The statute of limitations for fraud requires that a case be filed within six years of the discovery of the deception. While the Merryfields knew they had been molested by Feeney, the judge said, they did not know of the diocese's involvement until Feeney's criminal trial in 2004. The victim advocacy group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests lauded the court's decision, saying there were more than 30 complaints of inappropriate sexual activity by Feeney and that he was transferred 18 times before being moved out of the Green Bay diocese.
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