September 25, 2009
Ill. Supreme Court Snubs Homosex Lawsuit Against Belleville Priest
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled against a former student who claims he was abused by a Belleville-area priest in 1984, saying his allegation came too late under the state law that was in effect when he discovered the emotional impact of the alleged abuse. David Clohessy, director of the St. Louis-based “Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests,” called the ruling “a devastating loss for children and a massive victory for dangerous predators.” The plaintiff, Christopher Amenn, of O’Fallon, alleges that Rev. Kenneth Roberts abused him at the age of 13, while he was attending St. Mary’s school in Belleville. The plaintiff says he didn’t comprehend the emotional injury caused by that experience until he was treated for depression in 1998. He filed his suit in 2003, under a newly passed state law that allowed “delayed discovery” sexual abuse cases to be filed up to five years from the time the memory was recovered.Click Here For The Full Story......
Related:
Supreme Court Upholds Decision to Toss Homosexual Abuse Lawsuit
BELLEVILLE -- An Illinois Supreme Court decision made public Thursday upheld a local judge's decision to toss out a civil lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by a priest in a Belleville parochial school 25 years ago. The lawsuit, filed in 2003 by St. Louis firefighter Chris Amenn of O'Fallon, cannot now go forward, said St. Paul, Minn., attorney Mike Finnegan, a member of a nationally known law firm that has filed hundreds of lawsuits claiming sexual abuse by priests. The firm represents Amenn.