Archdiocese loses another round in sex abuse cases
By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
April 18, 2007
The Archdiocese of Denver has lost its second attempt to have a group of sex
abuse cases involving the late priest, Harold Robert White, dismissed in
Denver district court.
Twelve lawsuits moved closer to trial Tuesday when Judge Robert Hyatt
rejected the church's argument that the cases should be dismissed because
they exceeded the statute of limitations.
That makes a total of 15 cases involving White which are now moving forward.
Last month Judge John McMullen issued a similar ruling on three cases.
White, a defrocked priest, was 73 when he died suddenly last November of an
apparent heart attack while vacationing in Mexico.
The archdiocese has battled more than 30 lawsuits involving either White or
Leonard Abercrombie, a priest who died in 1994.
The lawsuits allege the archdiocese exerted "negligent supervision" on White
while he was serving as a priest in various parishes around Colorado. He's
alleged to have sexually abused minors in the 1960s and 1970s.
At the heart of the "negligent supervision" argument is whether any
archdiocesan staff were aware that White was a sexual predator and yet
allowed to remain serving as a priest.
An archdiocesan spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment
Wednesday.
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