Lawsuits by 30 people alleging that they were sexually abused by two Catholic priests should be dismissed, lawyers for one of the priests and the Denver Roman Catholic Archdiocese said Tuesday.
The lawyers, in Denver District Court motions, argued that lawsuits should be thrown out because the statute of limitations has run and six of the accusers have filed bankruptcy, barring them from recovering damages.
In late May, Denver District Judge Joseph Meyer set Tuesday as the date the archdiocese had to respond to the lawsuits.
The plaintiffs claim that former priest Harold Robert White and the late Rev. Leon ard Abercrombie molested the children – now adults – decades ago. They also allege that the archdiocese engaged in a coverup of the priests’ activities.
But in their response to the suits, the archdiocese said the fact that six of the plaintiffs – including Delbert C. Nielsen III of Carlsbad, N.M. – have filed bankruptcy is grounds for dismissal. The church says Niel sen can’t recover because he, under oath, said in his bankruptcy claims that he didn’t have any claims against the archdiocese. The church said it has contemporaneously filed identical motions against the five other plaintiffs who filed for bankruptcy before suing the archdiocese.
Under the rules of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Denver, people declaring bankruptcy must “list all suits” they are involved in.
Jeff Herman, who represents 19 of the 30 individuals, said he doesn’t see “the bankruptcy argument as an issue.” He said that five of the six bankruptcies were filed long before there were disclosures that the two priests were allegedly abusing children.
As a result, Herman said, the plaintiffs didn’t know they had a claim against the archdiocese when they filed bankruptcy.
Herman also said the church’s alleged failure to disclose a pattern of abuse by the priests stopped the statute of limitations from running.
“In other words, the statute of limitations doesn’t accrue until you (the accuser) know the facts that support your claim,” he said.
But the archdiocese, represented by Denver lawyer Charles Goldberg, and White, represented by lawyer Douglas Tisdale, said the plaintiffs’ arguments make no sense.
Goldberg said plaintiffs suing the Catholic Church have argued that the statute of limitations doesn’t begin until the plaintiff learns the facts only known to an archdiocese. But he said these arguments have been rejected by numerous courts.
The motions by the archdiocese lawyers are not connected with the current arbitration being conducted by a mediation panel hired by the archdiocese to broker financial settlements with the plaintiffs. Herman said he has had discussions with the archdiocese and the mediation panel but he declined to go into specifics.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
