Wisconsin High Court Rules on Clergy Abuse Case

The Wisconsin Supreme Court barred a sexual abuse-related lawsuit against the Milwaukee Archdiocese from proceeding but left the door open for some cases to go forward in the future. In a major decision issued on July 13, 2005, the Court ruled that the case, based on abuse allegations dating from events occurring in the early 1960s, is barred because the plaintiff did not allege that the Archdiocese knew or had a basis for knowing that the priest was a child molester when the abuse occurred. However, the Court seemed willing to reconsider two vital issues: What is the time limit after the abuse for victims to sue, and does the Constitutional requirement for separation of church and state prevent such suits?

Those issues may be decided in another case filed against the archdiocese earlier this year. That suit claims the archdiocese is guilty of fraud and negligence because officials did not inform parishioners about prior criminal conduct by a different priest, Father Siegfried Widera.

Here are links to more information on the case.