Diocese of Venice Faces $5 Million Lawsuit

WINK
September 23, 2014

http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2014-09-23/Diocese-of-Venice-faces-5-million-lawsuit

The Diocese of Venice is facing a $5 million lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims the Diocese and St. Francis Xavier Church were aware a volunteer had molested a child in 2011 and 2013 but did nothing about it.

Robert Little was arrested back in January for the 2013 allegations.

He pled guilty to child molestation charges and will serve a year in jail and 10 years on sex offender probation.

The victim's mother believes the church and Diocese should also be held responsible.

The victim's attorney Adam Horowitz said, "We do take issue with the Catholic Church and Diocese of Venice because upon receiving the first complaint they should have taken action to prevent Little from having access to kids."

The suit shows in 2011, the parents of a young boy told the church Little had molested him on church property at St. Francis Xavier.

Yet Little stayed on as a volunteer, a Eucharistic Minister and continued living on the church's property.

The lawsuit also shows the victim's mother was going through tough times and substance abuse issues.

It states she leaned on the church for help and Little took notice and used that to get close to her and her son to "fullfill his depraved sexual interests."

Wink news reached out to the Diocese of Venice. Director of Communications, Benedict Nguyen, released a statement saying "...the Diocese of Venice in Florida, and its entities take very seriously the safety of all minors and vulnerable adults..". The statement going on to say "At no time either prior to or since the arrest of Mr. Robert Little did the Diocese of Venice or the Parish receive any complaint of an assault by Mr. Little as alleged in the complaint."