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	Lawsuit Claims Church Covered up Priest Crimes CBS 2 [Chicago IL] May 17, 2006 http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_137221006.html (STNG) A lawsuit filed Wednesday accused a priest, who is already serving time for possessing child pornography, of sexual abuse and claims the church attempted to cover up the crimes. The suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, contends the Catholic Bishop of Chicago lost and or destroyed materials concerning Father Vincent McCaffrey "in order to thwart the victim's case," according to a release issued by the unidentified boy's attorney's. The Catholic Bishop of Chicago was the only defendant named in the suit. The suit alleged the Archdiocese ignored numerous reports of sexual abuse and molestation committed by McCaffrey and enabled him to retain unrestricted access to young children. McCaffery is currently serving a 15-year sentence - the statutory maximum under the law for a child porn possession conviction - stemming from a 2002 search of his home, which netted 4,000 images of child porn. Under oath, he admitted to having a sexual addiction to young boys and engaged in "hundreds and hundreds" of abuse incidents with 40 children, according to a release from the victim's attorneys who filed the suit. The suit alleged the plaintiff, identified as "John Doe #110," was abused multiple times roughly between 1982 to 1986 when he was 8 to 12 years old and while attending St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Wheeling. At the time, McCaffery was a priest at the Wheeling parish. In 2003, McCaffery reached a $4 million settlement between four victims and the archdiocese, the release said. The suit accused the defendant of negligence, fraud, intentional non-disclosure and destruction of evidence. The suit seeks more than $50,000 in damages.
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