BUFFALO (NY)
GoErie.com
March 7, 2020
By Ed Palattella
Former bishop, accused of cover-up, is disputing constitutionality of New York law that lets plaintiffs sue in old cases.
Retired Erie Catholic Bishop Donald W. Trautman is challenging New York’s landmark Child Victims Act as he seeks to dismiss a lawsuit that claims he covered up clergy sex abuse of a minor when he was a top official in the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo in the 1980s.
The Child Victims Act “is unconstitutional,” lawyers for Trautman wrote in his initial legal response to the suit, filed in December in Erie County, New York.
The lawyers also wrote that the law violates Trautman’s rights to due process under the New York constitution, and that Trautman denies all the claims in the suit.
The complaint should be dismissed “in its entirety,” according to the response, filed Thursday. The 11-page response lists denials for the claims in the suit without providing details, as is customary in the early stages of litigation. The claims and counterclaims are expected to get more detailed as the case proceeds.
Trautman, 83, was vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo and then its auxiliary bishop for five years before he became bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Erie. He led the 13-county Catholic Diocese of Erie from 1990 to 2012.
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.