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	Diocese of Corpus Christi, Others Settle in Suit Alleging Molestation By Mary Ann Cavazos m.caller January 28, 2011 http://m.caller.com/news/2011/jan/28/diocese-of-corpus-christi-diocese-others-settle/ CORPUS CHRISTI - A Texas teenager who received a $1 million settlement from the Roman Catholic church in a molestation lawsuit has reached another settlement with the Diocese of Corpus Christi, a Nebraska archdiocese and a religious order. The Diocese of Corpus Christi announced Friday that it reached an undisclosed settlement with a teen who said he was sexually abused by John Fiala. The 52-year-old priest is in a Dallas jail facing criminal charges of soliciting someone to kill the teenager, who said he was 16 when the abuse began in 2007. Fiala at the time worked at Sacred Heart of Mary Parish in Rocksprings, which is part of the Archdiocese of San Antonio. The undisclosed settlement was reached after mediation with the Corpus Christi diocese, the Archdiocese of Omaha and the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, a Robstown-based religious order to which Fiala belonged. Corpus Christi diocese spokesman Marty Wind said Fiala never was a priest for the diocese and pointed out the teen never said anything happened to him locally. Fiala did work at a Beeville parish but that was at the direction of the religious order, not the diocese, Wind said. Wind said the local diocese settled because of the uncertainty of litigation, not because of any wrongdoing and prays for the teen's healing. "That's our hope," Wind said. "It's a terrible tragedy." The teen's Dallas-based attorney, Tahira Khan Merritt, said the Diocese of Corpus Christi is trying to avoid responsibility for allowing Fiala to work as a priest in the area. "I think they're playing with words there," she said. "They can say they're not responsible but they're really missing the point." She said the head of the religious society sent Fiala a March 31, 1998, letter informing Fiala that he was being removed from Our Lady of Victory Parish in Beeville because of a complaint about his imprudent behavior with youths. She said Fiala was allowed to stay in the religious order and she accused the local diocese of failing to investigate the complaint. Wind said he had no knowledge of the letter or of any local claims against Fiala. Fiala was ordained by the Omaha archdiocese in 1984. The Archdiocese of Omaha said in a statement it settled because it wasn't clear that the church shared all information about Fiala when he left. Fiala is charged with solicitation of capital murder. His accuser settled with the Archdiocese of San Antonio last week for $946,000.
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