Only days after three Philly priests and a teacher were charged with raping boys, a new lawsuit popped up against the archdiocese, accusing top church staff of conspiracy.
A national advocacy group alleges that high-ranking Roman Catholic clergy in the Philadelphia Archdiocese conspired to cover up criminal acts by two priests who the group says sexually assaulted the same boy in the 1990s.
Barbara Blaine of the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said a lawsuit will be filed Monday naming archdiocesan officials and staffers, including Cardinal Justin Rigali and retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua. The group says the Villanova-based Augustinians also will be named a defendant.
Blaine said the lawsuit will contend that the archdiocese “continues to tolerate and actively conceal the sexual abuse of children.”
According to SNAP, Former priest Martin Satchell is accused of molesting a child at St. Aloysius Academy in the early 1990s. Fr. Richard J. Cochrane is accused of molesting the same boy around 1996-97 at Malvern Prep.
The suit also charges that archdiocesan staffers "were aware or should have been aware that Satchell had sexually abused children" before he allegedly sexually abused the boy in that particular case.
The lawsuit follows criminal charges brought last week in Philadelphia against three priests, a parochial school teacher, and a top clergy member. The priests and teacher were charged with rape; the clergy supervisor for allegedly failing to protect children.
Cardinal Justin Rigali released the video message Saturday, two days after Philadelphia's district attorney announced charges against three priests, a parochial school teacher and Monsignor William Lynn. Lynn was secretary of the clergy and a top official in the Philadelphia Archdiocese from 1992 to 2004.
Rigali is calling for “a moment of renewed faith.”
The three priests and teacher were charged with raping boys. Lynn was accused of endangering children, not molesting them. Lynn's attorney has said he doesn't concede for a moment that he knew he was putting children at risk.
