Racketeering suit filed against dioceses over abuse claims

Associated Press WriterST. LOUIS, Mo. (AP) -- Federal laws aimed primarily at racketeering were used Friday to sue three dioceses and an ex-bishop on behalf of an alleged child abuse victim.

The suit was filed in Hannibal, Mo., site of St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary. It names Bishop Anthony O'Connell, a longtime rector at St. Thomas, along with the dioceses where he worked: Jefferson City, Mo.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and West Palm Beach, Fla.

The lawsuit also names all U.S. bishops as part of a conspiracy to cover up the alleged abuses. It does not specify financial damages, nor is the alleged victim named.

O'Connell resigned as bishop of the West Palm Beach Diocese on March 8 after admitting he sexually abused Christopher Dixon, a seminarian at St. Thomas in the late 1970s. O'Connell has been in seclusion since then.

On Monday, another former St. Thomas student sued O'Connell, claiming he was sexually exploited starting in the late 1960s.

Attorney Patrick Noaker said all U.S. bishops are named in the lawsuit because the Catholic church has conspired to keep secret sexual abuse complaints against priests, often reaching hushed financial settlements with victims.

"In this case, we have the Catholic Church and the seminary that have been infiltrated by predators who prey on children, and they cover it up," he said.

The lawsuit claims O'Connell began sexually abusing the student when he was a freshman in 1982. The abuse allegedly continued for several years both at St. Thomas and as the student attended Conception Seminary College near Maryville, Mo.

Noaker said the abuse began with O'Connell pressing the boy to discuss sexual fantasies during counseling sessions. That eventually led to physical contact that included instances where O'Connell and the student were nude in bed together and O'Connell fondled the student's genitals, the lawsuit said.

Besides Dixon and the two former students who filed lawsuits this week, five other former St. Thomas students have told Noaker and his associate, Jeff Anderson, that they were abused at St. Thomas. Noaker said one of the former students said the abuse began in 1967. He said it wasn't clear if O'Connell was involved in that case.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has been named in two similar suits. A judge dismissed racketeering charges in a case in New Jersey in 1995, while plaintiffs eventually abandoned a similar claim as part of a suit that led to a $30 million settlement against the Diocese of Dallas in 1998.

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, a spokeswoman for the conference of bishops, said Thursday she couldn't comment on Anderson's planned suit until she sees it.

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) was aimed primarily at organized crime, but includes provisions for civil cases when someone is harmed by a "pattern" of illegal activity.