ILLINOIS/NEW JERSEY
The Record
TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2013
BY JEFF GREEN
STAFF WRITER
Related: Read Myer’s deposition and case documents (pdf)
The embattled Archbishop of Newark claimed ignorance of a sexual abuse complaint against a priest in his former diocese in Illinois, and he dismissed a parishioner’s report of suspicious activity involving the same priest, who showered him with gifts of silver, gold coins and cash during his decade-long tenure there.
The statements by Archbishop John J. Myers were part of a 2010 deposition released today in a settlement between the Diocese of Peoria and a man who says he was abused by Monsignor Thomas W. Maloney when he was 8 years old. According to a letter in the diocese’s file on Maloney, a year before the alleged abuse began, a woman reported to the Diocese of Peoria that she also was molested by the cleric as a youth.
Alleged victim Andrew Ward’s family is holding a 1 p.m. press conference outside the Newark Archdiocese chancery to announce a $1.35 million settlement of the case. His attorney, Jeff Anderson, said that had Myers investigated the case and taken action against Maloney, he could have possibly stopped the priest from allegedly abusing Ward and at least three other children.
“The choice he made was to protect the reputation of the diocese and his own at the peril of Andrew Ward and many other kids who have since come forward when he chose to keep Monsignor Maloney in ministry,” Anderson said.
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.