Lawsuit Alleges Catholic Deacon Had Improper Sexual Relationship

By William Browning
Billings Gazette
January 21, 2012

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/lawsuit-alleges-catholic-deacon-had-improper-sexual-relationship/article_09d1aa7f-0754-5ce6-8ace-1fc9dd0e75f6.html

CASPER — A Colorado woman has filed a lawsuit against a deacon at a local church alleging the church official "imposed a sexual relationship" on her after she was referred to him for counseling a decade ago.

The lawsuit claims that Donald Morris Stewart, a deacon at St. Anthony's Catholic Church, began the sexual relationship after the woman started receiving counseling from him in 2002.

The eight-page lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District of Wyoming. St. Anthony's Catholic Church and the Diocese of Cheyenne are named as defendants in the suit, as well.

"Stewart imposed a sexual relationship during plaintiff's church-sanctioned bereavement counseling with (the woman)," the lawsuits states. "The other defendants knew or should have known of this inappropriate and meretricious sexual relationship imposed upon plaintiff by Stewart in the course and scope of his employment."

A message left with Stewart and Casper church officials was not returned Friday. Carol DeLois, chancellor with the Diocese of Cheyenne, said Friday afternoon that she was unaware of the lawsuit and that the church had not been served with lawsuit documents. The alleged victim's attorneys also did not respond to messages.

According to the suit, the woman began bereavement counseling with the deacon while "trying to cope with emotional issues related to the deaths of members of her family." The suit states the subsequent sexual relationship went on for years "in full view of the parish."

Stewart, according to the lawsuit, physically assaulted the woman on back-to-back days in January 2008.

"These attacks were the culmination of the sexual relationship which was forced upon (the woman)," according to court documents.

The suit goes on to claim that Stewart then began calling the woman, leaving threatening voicemail messages on her telephone.

"This behavior continued until May of 2009," according to court documents.

Attorneys for the woman say in court documents that she "has suffered physical and emotional injuries which are severe and permanent in nature" because of the defendants' actions.

The lawsuit asks for compensatory damages for loss of wages; for medical expenses incurred; for "pain, suffering, disfigurement and loss of use of her body amounting to a partial and permanent disability in an amount to be proved at trial;" and for the "loss of enjoyment of life in an amount to be proved at trial."

The amount exceeds $75,000, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that any damages awarded should be an amount "sufficient to punish the defendants, to make an example of them and to deter future conduct of the same type."

Attorneys for the defendants have not yet formally responded to the woman's allegations, according to an online federal database.