MISSOURI
Fox 4
[with video]
July 8, 2013, by Matt Stewart
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The civil trial against the Catholic Diocese will begin Monday, July 8. An Independence family is suing, claiming the diocese covered up sexual abuse by a priest against their son.
Thomas O’Brien was ordained in 1950 and worked as a priest in Kansas City and Independence until his forced retirement in 1983. In the past 10 years, dozens of lawsuits have been filed against him, claiming he sexually abused many altar boys, including Brian Teeman.
Teeman’s parents filed a lawsuit claiming sexual abuse against their son led to Brian’s suicide in 1983. He was 14 years old.
According the SNAP, the Survivors Network of Abused Priests, the lawsuit alleges that “following the sexual encounters, O’Brien would require them to change into their robes, prepare communion and serve at the mass.”
It also states that “O’Brien forced silence on [boys] by telling them that they would be kicked out of the Catholic Church, they would go directly to hell and their parents would disown them.”
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