Abuse claim against former Baton Rouge bishop is settled

Published: 2004-11-12

BATON ROUGE, La. (CNS) -- The Baton Rouge Diocese has reached an out-of-court settlement of a lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct with a teenager by Bishop Joseph V. Sullivan, who died in 1982. Bishop Sullivan headed the Baton Rouge Diocese from 1974 to 1982. Before that he was auxiliary bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., for seven years. Bishop Robert W. Muench of Baton Rouge said the man's allegation was found to be substantive and the Bishop Joseph V. Sullivan Diocesan Regional Catholic High School in Baton Rouge will be renamed next year. The plaintiff, a man in his mid-40s, said that in 1975, when he was 17, he was a victim of sexual abuse by Bishop Sullivan. "In line with the directives of the U.S. Catholic bishops' charter and norms for the protection of children and young people, the diocese conducted a thorough investigation and accepted the allegation for reasons it found serious and substantive," Bishop Muench said at a press conference Nov. 10.

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