Archdiocese Named in Clergy Sex Suit
Cases involve former nun, 4 priests

By Gloria Campisi campisg@phillynews.com
Philadelphia Daily News
May 12, 2004

Francis Meehan was just 10 years old when he was seduced by lay teacher Eileen Rhoads, a former nun, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday in Philadelphia.

Rhoads taught Meehan, a sixth grade student, at Holy Cross parochial school, in Springfield, Delaware County, and during class actually had the boy climb under her desk in front of the whole class and masturbate her, according to the lawsuit.

The suit was filed by attorney Jay Abramowitch and another lawyer who have brought similar civil suits in a series of clergy sex-abuse cases, including several in Philadelphia.

Yesterday, they sued the Philadelphia archdiocese and Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, now retired, on behalf of six more alleged clergy sex-abuse victims, and the diocese of Allentown on behalf of two. The Philadelphia-area cases all allegedly occurred between 1957 and 1981.

Abramowitch said the victims had been advised not to comment publicly.

In the case of Rhoads, he said she had also met with Meehan in private, read sex stories with him, masturbated the boy until he was aroused, and then had sexual intercourse with him "on at least 30 or 40 different occasions at her residence." She allegedly told him that if he reported her he would be "expelled from school for lying."

Rhoads recently was indicted in Virginia on charges of molesting a 10-year-old boy while she was still a nun. Abramowitch said Rhoads had victimized "many children."

A woman who answered the phone at Rhoads' Drexel Hill address yesterday hung up without commenting.

The Philadelphia archdiocese issued a statement saying that its lawyers had not reviewed the suits but that none of the priests identified are still in active ministry.

Rhoads left Holy Cross School in 1994 and has not worked for a school in the archdiocese since, the statement said.

Of the priests accused, the archdiocese said the Rev. Francis X. Trauger was removed from the ministry in December 2003, after it was determined the allegations against him were "credible;" the Rev. Joseph P. Gausch retired in 1992 and died in 1999, and the Rev. Gerard Chambers retired in 1963 and died in 1974.

The archdiocese said it did not have enough information about the fourth priest, the Rev. John Trotter, to determine his whereabouts.

"All of these cases occurred decades ago," the archdiocese said. Abramowitch said the church had argued in the past that the statue of limitations would prevent the alleged abusers from being prosecuted.

Abramowitch said the victims were abused when they were "just at the brink of sexual awareness. That's the whole shtick for a pedophile"

He said the abuse victims were "profiled. All of the children have basically the same characteristics.

"All were children under the age of 13, some as young as eight or six.

"All were very, very heavily involved in the church and looked to the priest as a surrogate parent, placing him on a high pedestal.

"Most were altar boys. All of them were good looking, most were intelligent."

Most also came from backgrounds where their parents also looked up to the priest, Abramowitch said.

The attorney said civil lawsuits were being filed in Common Pleas Court on behalf of: Joseph Crothers and John Doe 3, allegedly abused by Gausch, at Good Shepherd Church between 1980 and 1981; Meehan, 1975 and 1976; Paul Coleman, allegedly abused by Chambers at St. Gregory's Church, in 1957; Anthony B. Downing, allegedly abused by Trotter at St. Peter's Church from 1970 to 1973, and Stephen Walsh, said to have been abused by Trauger at St. Leo's Church, in 1973.

Correction: A story in yesterday's Daily News said whereabouts of a priest named in a clergy-abuse lawsuit could not be determined. It should have said the archiocese cannot locate any records or verify that a Rev. John Trotter ever worked in the archdiocese, according to archdiocesan spokeswoman Cathy Rossi.