ILLINOIS/NEW JERSEY
The Record
Illinois diocese to pay $1.35 million in suit that alleges Myers failed to stop pedophile priest while bishop there
MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2013
BY JEFF GREEN
STAFF WRITER
A Catholic diocese in Illinois has agreed to pay $1.35 million to settle a lawsuit that claims John J. Myers, its former bishop and now the archbishop of Newark, failed to keep an alleged pedophile priest away from children.
The Diocese of Peoria received a complaint from a woman in 1995 that she was molested by Monsignor Thomas W. Maloney during her childhood, but church officials did not act, the suit contends. A year later, the suit says, Maloney went on to abuse 8-year-old Andrew Ward, the plaintiff in the case.
The settlement will be announced Tuesday at a press conference outside Myers’ office in Newark. A deposition of Myers, which has been under court seal since 2010, and other documents also will be released.
Ward’s family is expected to attend the news conference, where they will “discuss Myers’ pattern and practice of repeatedly failing to protect children while working as bishop in Peoria and now as the archbishop of Newark,” said Ward’s attorney, Jeff Anderson.
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.