Man sues priest, archdiocese over alleged sexual abuse

ST. LOUIS -- A suburban St. Louis man sued a defrocked priest and the Archdiocese of St. Louis on Thursday, alleging he was sexually abused by the ex-priest for two years in the 1970s.

Matt Layton, 39, of Webster Groves, alleged that repressed memories preventing him from recalling until March that the Rev. Joseph Ross molested him, beginning in 1975, when Layton was an altar boy at St. William Church in Woodson Terrace.

Layton's lawsuit, filed in St. Louis Circuit Court, seeks unspecified damages.

Ross, 58, pleaded guilty in 1988 to misdemeanor sexual abuse of a boy during confession at a church in University City, another St. Louis suburb.

Ross served for 11 years at St. Cronan Catholic Church before he was removed in February following an archdiocesan review of older cases to see whether additional action was warranted.

After his removal from St. Cronan, diocesan officials have said, other allegations of sexual abuse were filed against Ross. In August, Pope John Paul II removed Ross from the priesthood.

In a statement, the archdiocese declined to comment about Layton's lawsuit. Messages left Thursday at Ross' home were not immediately returned.