Church Sex Abuse Cases Dismissed

By Charles Michael Ray
The South Dakota Public Broadcasting
January 14, 2014

http://listen.sdpb.org/post/church-sex-abuse-cases-dismissed


[with audio]

A 7th Judicial Circuit Court judge has thrown out a number of civil lawsuits against the Catholic Church that allege past sexual and physical abuse in Native American boarding schools.   

One case included a series of detailed letters written by clergy that plaintiffs say clearly show the church knew about sexual abuse of minors decades ago but covered it up.

The lawsuits were thrown out in part due to an added statute of limitations passed by the legislature in 2010.  That law limited the amount of time those who suffer alleged abuse can bring a lawsuit against the church.

You can hear the rest of the story by clicking the play button below.

Here is a longer SDPB series of stories that aired in 2012 on these cases.