MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star
July 8
BY JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star
The Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese has settled a wrongful-death lawsuit for $2.25 million with the parents of a boy who allegedly took his own life 30 years ago because of repeated sexual abuse by a Kansas City priest.
The settlement is the largest ever for the diocese in a single priest sexual abuse lawsuit. It came on Monday afternoon as jury selection was underway in Jackson County Circuit Court in Independence.
“This is one of the most significant cases we’ve ever worked on,” said Rebecca Randles, the attorney for Donald and Rosemary Teeman, who filed the lawsuit against the diocese and O’Brien in 2011 after a man who served as an altar boy with their son, Brian, told them of the alleged abuse. Brian Teeman, 14, died of a gunshot wound in November 1983 at the family’s home in Independence.
“This allows everyone to put this behind them,” Randles said. “It allows closure.”
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