For the first time, former Roman Catholic priest Harold Robert White has been accused of abusing a child before he even entered the priesthood.
One of four lawsuits filed today against the Archdiocese of Denver charges that White was still a seminarian when he allegedly abused a 13-year-old boy in 1959 or 1960. White was ordained a priest June 4, 1960.
The plaintiff, who is not named, alleges that he told the principal of Holy Family school in Denver that White made him feel creepy and was doing “queer things” to him.
The suit claims the principal grabbed the boy’s hair, slammed his head against a blackboard and told him never to speak of it again. The suit does not name the principal, whom lawyers say was a nun.
Two other lawsuits were filed today by unnamed men. One claims that White molested him at St. Catherine’s Church in Denver in 1960 or 1961 and the second said White did the same at St. John the Evangelist parish in Loveland from 1968 to 1969.
A fourth man, Randy Becker of Wyoming, filed suit alleging that White molested him at the Loveland parish between 1970 and 1971.
A total of 22 lawsuits have been filed in recent months charging that the archdiocese knew White had been accused of molesting children but continued to keep him in ministry and move him from parish to parish.
The archdiocese has declined to comment on specific cases but has emphasized it is committed to responding quickly and helping all those involved heal.
The archdiocese is seeking to move the lawsuits from state to federal court, arguing that First Amendment issues of religious freedom are at stake. The plaintiff’s lawyers are opposing the move.
In announcing the latest batch of court filings, members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests handed out neon pamphlets outside 12:15 p.m. Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Denver. The fliers accused Archbishop Charles Chaput of trying to thwart the lawsuits on legal technicalities.
“We believe it’s the silence and donations of Catholics of the Archdiocese of Denver that’s allowing the archbishop to use legal hardball tactics against the victims,” said Barbara Blaine of Chicago, president of the group.
