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	Disgraced Illinois Priest Hit Again by Lawsuit By Jesse Bogan St. Louis Post-Dispatch October 3, 2011 http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/article_e6a2e816-ee0b-11e0-8c5c-001a4bcf6878.html Office.jpg AUG. 10, 2011 -- The Diocese of Belleville Chancery Office building in Belleville. (Johnny Andrews | jandrews@post-dispatch.com) ST. LOUIS • An Illinois man filed a lawsuit Monday alleging disgraced Roman Catholic priest Raymond Kownacki sexually abused him as a boy and the Diocese of Belleville was partly to blame for hiding the priest's history. The man, named John Doe S.W. in the lawsuit, further said Kownacki, 76, who lives in a South St. Louis retirement home, is still a threat. "This is really to protect children -- my children and other children," Doe, 42, said in an interview. Doe was Kownacki's long-time caretaker. His and Kownacki's family "became very close," according to the lawsuit. But that relationship soured in 2009, when Kownacki gave Doe a list of names to contact on his behalf, including people who had sex abuse claims against Kownacki. Doe refused and he had "flashbacks" of his own abuse, according to the lawsuit. Doe claims Kownacki abused him from 1985 to 1987 at places that included St. Mary's Catholic Church in Valmeyer, Ill., where he served as an altar boy. Doe was about 16 then. At the time, he claims that Kownacki "coerced and threatened" him from telling anyone, according to the lawsuit. Doe argues in the lawsuit that the statute of limitations on sex abuse claims doesn't apply to his case because he "recovered the memories" of Kownacki abusing him in 2009. Meanwhile, since the relationship was severed, Doe said in an interview that Kownacki has written letters to his children "on a regular basis," including a note that arrived last week for his 14-year-old son. "I am trying to protect them," he said of his children. But he declined to talk about the content of the letters, some of which he said he hasn't opened. Kownacki, who was ordained in 1960, has a litany of abuse claims against him, including a jury verdict that rose to a $6.3 million payout in August to James Wisniewski for sexual misconduct dating to the 1970s. The Belleville Diocese repeatedly tried to appeal the case to the Supreme Court of Illinois. At a retirement home in the 4600 block of Lansdowne Avenue, Kownacki told the Post-Dispatch in August that he did not remember the Wisniewski case. He also said he had suffered a stroke that affected his ability to communicate. But reached again Monday, Kownacki stood in his room in a plaid shirt and easily answered a call to his name. Asked about the Doe case, he said "I don't care" and "It doesn't bother me" and refused to say anything more. Attempts to reach Rev. John Myler, spokesman for the Belleville Diocese, were unsuccessful Monday. Kownacki was removed from the ministry in 1995 after abuse allegations began to surface. A former housekeeper accused him of raping, beating and performing an abortion on her in the 1970s. That case, which alleged Kownacki was quietly shuffled between parishes, was dismissed after the state Supreme Court ruled that it exceeded the statute of limitations. Even though Wisniewski filed his case about three decades after he was abused, the jury agreed that the diocese concealed and misrepresented facts about Kownacki, so the statute of limitations did not bar his claim. Another case was filed against Kownacki in 2003 by a man identified as John Doe, who as a boy mowed the parish lawn at St. Theresa's Catholic Church and School in Salem, Ill., where Kownacki was pastor from 1979 to 1986. That case was settled in 2009 for $1.2 million. At least two more cases are pending against the diocese that allege Kownacki sexually abused young boys who are now grown men. According to the Belleville Diocese website, Kownacki's status is "administrative leave/retired." jbogan@post-dispatch.com
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