ILLINOIS
Pantagraph
[Bishop Myers deposition via BishopAccountability.org in easy to use format]
[Via Jeff Anderson & Associates: Deposition of Archbishop Myers Redacted
Deposition of Msgr Gerald Ward Redacted
Deposition of Archbishop Myers Redacted]
By Edith Brady-Lunny eblunny@pantagraph.com
NORMAL — A haphazard filing system and the Irish inclinations of a former bishop of the Peoria Catholic Diocese are among the reasons that allegations of sexual misconduct by priests were delayed or never turned over to police, according to 200-page deposition released Tuesday by the lawyer for a former Normal student who has been awarded $1.35 million by the diocese in an abuse case.
John Myers, now Archbishop of Newark, N.J., answered questions in 2010 as part of a lawsuit filed by Andrew Ward, now 25, of Michigan. Ward accused the late Thomas Maloney, a former priest at Epiphany Church in Normal, of abusing him when he was in the second grade.
Ward and his parents announced the settlement Tuesday at a news conference in Newark.
The diocese declined to comment on the settlement Monday, citing “the confidentiality of those involved in a legal case.”
In his four-hour deposition, Myers said former Peoria Bishop Edward O’Rourke, who also is deceased, did not pass along any allegations of abuse when Myers took over as bishop in 1990.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.