NEW JERSEY: Catholic Diocese Says It's Not Liable For Molestations Because That's Not An Official Duty For Priests
Lawyers claim the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, should not be held liable for sexual abuse allegedly committed by a priest because he wasn’t officially “on duty” when he molested a teenage boy. Chris Naples claimed Rev. Terence McAlinden, who once headed the diocese’s youth group, sexually abused him during church-sponsored trips to Delaware in the 1980s. But diocese lawyers told the Delaware Supreme Court that McAlinden was not officially on duty when the abuse took place. “You can determine a priest is not on duty when he is molesting a child, for example,” the attorney argued. “A priest abusing a child is absolutely contrary to the pursuit of his master’s business, to the work of a diocese.”Unbelievable.
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Labels: Catholic Church, lawsuits, molestation, religion
