CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant
By DAVE ALTIMARI, daltimar@courant.com
The Hartford Courant
1:54 p.m. EDT, August 8, 2012
HARTFORD -—
A Superior Court judge Wednesday denied a motion by attorneys from the Norwich Diocese to delay the start of a trial involing sexual abuse allegations against a former priest.
The church had requested a delay, in part because it claimed negative publicity from the recent Penn State sex-abuse scandal could make it difficult to find impartial jurors.
National Collegiate Athletic Association Jury selection is expected to start later Wednesday. An unidentified woman filed the suit, claiming she was abused by now-deceased priest Thomas Shea when she was 12 in 1976. She is claiming that the diocese knew Shea had a history of previous abuse allegations and moved him from parish to parish.
Shea is suspected of abusing as many as 15 girls in 11 different parishes from 1953 through the 1970’s. He died in 2006.
Among the reasons that attorney Gary Kaisen cited in a motion to delay the trial until late October was the $60 million fine levied against Penn State by the NCAA. The diocese attorneys argued the large fine could desensitize jurors in this case or impact potential damages.
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