By Gina Christian
(OSV News) — Five civil lawsuits filed against the Archdiocese of St. Louis July 24 allege multiple incidents of sexual abuse of minors and long-standing coverups, with a Nebraska archbishop — then a St. Louis archdiocesan priest — included among the accused.
A total of 60 plaintiffs claim that they were abused by clergy, religious and laypeople, with most alleged incidents taking place from the 1960s through the 1990s.
The lawsuits name Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of St. Louis, who was appointed to his see in August 2020, “solely in his capacity as an officer, director and/or chief executive officer of the Archdiocese of St. Louis,” representing “all archbishops who officially supervised or failed to supervise the employee abusers” alleged in the cases.
One of the suits (A.S. et al. v. the Archdiocese of St. Louis) alleges that in 1988 a 16-year-old student at the now-closed St. Louis Preparatory Seminary was abused by then-Father George J. Lucas, dean of education at the school at the time and now archbishop of the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska.
In a statement to OSV News, Archbishop Lucas said, “I categorically deny the accusation made by an anonymous person. I have never had sexual contact with another person. I referred the matter to the apostolic nuncio, Pope Francis’ representative in Washington D.C., for his guidance.”
The complainant, named in the lawsuit as D.S., said the alleged abuse had taken place in the context of “one-on-one check-in sessions” for coursework that “proved to be a ruse for Father Lucas to sexually abuse (him)” on multiple occasions. D.S. also claimed to have witnessed then-Father Lucas abusing a fellow student. In addition, D.S. alleged that then-Father Lucas told the youth he could improve a failing grade the priest had given him in exchange for sexual favors.
Other alleged abuse specified in the suits was said to have occurred in such contexts as counseling sessions, confession and altar server duties.
One plaintiff, raised as a Baptist, alleged that he had been abused in the shower of a local fitness center, having been invited to exercise with a diocesan priest who had spotted him playing near parish grounds.
A particularly lurid account in one of the suits alleged that three parish priests and two female volunteers engaged in abuse of one plaintiff “in groups of two or three at a time,” with the women both molesting and photographing the plaintiff. The alleged abuse by the three priests, one of whom was the pastor, took place “at least two to three times a week from 1958 to 1961” when the plaintiff was between the ages of 9 and 13.
The lawsuits allege that both the archdiocese and its acting archbishops “enabled abusers to continue to have access to children and hold themselves out as priests, father figures, or mentors to their parishioners and young children.”
“All defendants acted with depraved hearts knowing harm would occur,” said one lawsuit.
The plaintiffs, who have requested a jury trial, are seeking an unspecified amount in “compensatory, statutory, punitive and any and all” damages permitted by law, along with legal costs.
OSV News is awaiting a response to its request for comment from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, which in 2019, under then-Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, released a list of credibly accused clergy.