Dallas Jesuit Graduate Files Lawsuit Claiming Former School President Sexually Assaulted Him

NBC 5 News
August 27, 2019

https://bit.ly/344iQfG

Three months after members of the Dallas Jesuit community were named on a list of clergy “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of a minor, a lawsuit has been filed by a former student at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, Tuesday, March 19, 2019.

A graduate of Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas says the school's former president, who was on a list of credibly accused priests, sexually assaulted him, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.

The lawsuit says Patrick J. Koch, who died in 2006, was the lone abuser, but that he couldn't have acted alone.

Koch's name was included on a list released by the Catholic Diocese of Dallas in late January of "priests with credible allegations of sexual of abuse of minors since 1950."

Koch served as principal of Jesuit Dallas from 1972-79, president from 1979-80 and director of alumni from 1980-86, according to the school's website.

The lawsuit says the school "created and fostered a community where abuse would occur and the School (sic) did nothing to prevent the problem despite its obviousness."

The Catholic Diocese of Dallas issued the following statement Tuesday.

"The Diocese of Dallas has yet to be served with this lawsuit and has not had a chance to thoroughly review it. The Diocese continues to urge anyone who has been the victim of abuse by a priest to come forward. The list of priests with credible allegations was part of that process. The Diocese of Dallas takes every claim of abuse very seriously."

The suit is the second filed by a graduate of Dallas Jesuit since March.