MISSOURI
National Catholic Reporter
Brian Roewe | Sep. 4, 2015
The long-time director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has reached an out-of-court settlement related to allegations of sexual abuse by a Missouri diocesan priest first brought forward more than 25 years ago.
David Clohessy revealed in a press release Thursday that the Jefferson City, Mo., diocese in late August mailed him a check for $40,000 as part of an agreement refraining him from bringing further suits against the diocese regarding Fr. John Whiteley or other diocesan priests or staff.
The release that Clohessy signed as part of the agreement notes that the diocese and its components “choose voluntarily to settle fully and to extinguish all claims” brought by Clohessy, and “acknowledges that this settlement shall not be construed as an admission of liability or wrongdoing on the part of [the diocese].”
Clohessy alleges Whiteley molested him from age 12 to 16 while attending St. Pius X Church in Moberly, Mo., from 1969-73. The memories remained out of consciousness, he previously has said, until 1989 when he viewed the movie “Nuts,” in which the main character was sexually abused as a child.
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