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  Cannelton Victim Named in Sex-Abuse Suit

By Kevin Koelling
Perry County News [Indiana]
June 8, 2006

http://www.perrycountynews.com/articles/2006/06/08/headlines/h2.txt

CANNELTON - An attorney pursuing civil lawsuits against a former priest who served in a number of Indiana parishes until he was ousted for sexual misconduct announced Monday he was filing a case on behalf of an alleged sexual-abuse victim from Cannelton.

Father Harry Monroe, Cannelton's St. Michael Church and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, its parent organization, were named as defendants in a "John Doe" complaint filed by Patrick Noaker. He is a St. Paul, Minn., attorney who said Monday morning he planned a press conference for later that day to announce his ninth filing against the former priest. Three complainants in previously filed cases attended St. Paul Catholic Church in Tell City as children, and were allegedly sexually abused or subjected to inappropriate sexual behavior by Monroe there in the mid-1980s.

As have the previous complaints, the lawsuit filed Monday alleges the archdiocese knew of sexual-abuse complaints against Monroe when it transferred him first among three Indianapolis parishes, then to Terre Haute, then to Tell City.

"After receiving these reports, Defendant Archdiocese placed Monroe on leave," the latest complaint states, (then) "placed Monroe in Defendant Parish. This is one of the farthest locations that Defendant Archdiocese could have moved Monroe after the reports of abuse."

"... Defendant Archdiocese did not tell any of the parishioners at St. Michael Parish in Cannelton, including the minor plaintiff, what it knew about Monroe," the complaint continues, "that he was a child molester and a danger to children."

"I interviewed a number of witnesses," Noaker said Monday. "The archdiocese had no less than seven or eight kids molested before he went (to Perry County.)"

According to records provided by Noaker, Monroe was on leave in 1982 and served in this area in '83 and '84.

The attorney expects separate trials for each of the victims to begin early next year and said he plans to file two more complaints in coming days. He was away from his office when contacted and couldn't recall which parishes those complainants attended.

 
 

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