Defrocked Priest Files Libel Lawsuit against Church

NY1
September 20, 2012

http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/top_stories/169279/defrocked-priest-files-libel-lawsuit-against-church


A defrocked priest who once led fundraising for the Archdiocese of New York has filed a libel lawsuit against the church.

Charles Kavanagh was dismissed by the Vatican in 2010 after a church court found him guilty of sexually abusing a minor.

The accuser, now a middle-aged man, claimed Kavanagh touched him inappropriately during a trip to Washington in the 1980s but now admits he lied.

Archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling said their lawyers have not yet reviewed the lawsuit but he said the church did not base its decision on the trip to Washington.