Man Claims Abuse by Convicted Priest, Sues Archdiocese

By Ashlee Rezin
Chicago Sun-Times
June 13, 2015

http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/686328/man-claims-abuse-convicted-priest-sues-archdiocese

Norbert J. Maday | Wisconsin Department of Corrections

A man filed a lawsuit Friday against the Archdiocese of Chicago, claiming he was sexually abused by convicted former Catholic priest Nortbert Maday at a South Side parish from 1979 to 1982.

The plaintiff, listed in the lawsuit as John Doe, was a 10-year-old altar boy at Saint Bede the Venerable Parish, 8200 S. Kostner Ave., when Maday began abusing him in 1979, he claims in the suit, which was filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court.

Maday, who was ordained in 1964, was a priest at Saint Bede from 1977 to 1983, records show.

The suit claims Maday would take the altar boy and other children on various trips to pizza parlors, amusements parks and Maday’s adult friends’ houses.

The boy — the youngest of his parents’ seven children, who all worshiped at the parish — was sexually abused by Maday at various locations, including the church’s sacristy, Maday’s bedroom in the church rectory, other residences and Maday’s car, the suit claims.

The suit also claims the priest provided alcohol to boys, showed them pictures of naked adults and pornographic movies and shared a bed with the children.

Some of Maday’s other inappropriate behaviors included having boys sit on his lap while he was driving his car and setting up an electronic game system in his bedroom of the rectory to lure boys in, the suit said.

Maday was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1994 for molesting two teenage boys in separate 1986 parish outings to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the Chicago Sun-Times previously reported.

As of Friday, 77-year-old Maday was a registered sex offender living in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, under supervision by the state’s Department of Health Services, court records show. The archdiocese laicized, or defrocked, Maday in December 2007.

The lawsuit alleges the archdiocese did not protect the plaintiff and other boys from Maday by failing to properly investigate reports of inappropriate sexual behavior. The plaintiff claims church officials did not adequately supervise Maday or report him to law enforcement.

The plaintiff, a man now in his 40s, claims in the suit that he repressed his memories of the sexual abuse until 2014, when he read records released by the archdiocese.

The archdiocese and Maday are listed as defendants in the three-count suit, which is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages.

“While the Archdiocese of Chicago cannot respond to specific lawsuits, it is important to note that former priest, Norbert J. Maday, has been on the List of Archdiocesan Priests with Substantiated Allegations of Sexual Misconduct, which is available on the Archdiocesan website,” said archdiocese spokeswoman Michelle Adamowski.

“The Archdiocese of Chicago is committed to the help and healing of victims of abuse. It has one of the oldest and largest victim assistance programs in the United States,” Adamowski said.

“Its Office for the Protection of Children and Youth has reached roughly 600,000 people through screening, education and prevention programs,” Adamowski said. “Its programs have taught 200,000 children how to recognize and resist sexual predators and other potential abusers.”