MISSOURI
WGEM
ST. LOUIS (AP) – The parents of a young man who killed himself years after sexual abuse by a priest are hopeful that settlement of a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of St. Louis will prompt other victims to come forward.
The suit filed by Dan and Pat Harkins of Florissant, Missouri, was settled in September, but it wasn’t announced until Thursday. Officials with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests say it’s at least the third wrongful death suit settled by the archdiocese.
Messages left with the archdiocese were not returned.
Alex Harkins committed suicide at age 21 in 2009. His parents say Alex had struggled emotionally since abuse by the Rev. Bryan Kuchar about eight years earlier.
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.