NORTH CAROLINA
WSOC
[with video]
by: Allison Latos Updated: Feb 3, 2017
SALISBURY, N.C. – A civil lawsuit filed Thursday in Mecklenburg County claims that John Brian Kaup, who was in the seminary training to become a priest, used his position as a youth counselor at Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury to sexually abuse a teenage girl.
The Charlotte Catholic Diocese and Bishop Peter Jugis are also named in a lawsuit, saying they failed to protect the teenager.
The 24-page civil lawsuit names the Charlotte Diocese, Bishop Peter Jugis and Kaup, who was in the seminary and training to become a priest, as defendants.
Court documents said the girl and Kaup met through church activities when she was 13 years old and he was 24. The civil lawsuit said Kaup’s position as a youth group adviser caused the teenage girl to see Kaup as a trusted counselor and adviser, and as someone whose motives and actions were not to be questioned.
In 2013, when the girl was 16 years old, Kaup began to groom her for manipulation and assault, according to court documents.
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