Jury awards $1.8 million in sex abuse case against defrocked priest

Published: 2005-05-10

DAVENPORT, Iowa (CNS) -- Former priest James Janssen sexually abused his nephew decades ago and should pay him $1.8 million in damages, jurors in a civil court trial decided May 9 in Davenport. Janssen, who was defrocked as a priest of the Davenport Diocese last year, is believed to be the first priest in Iowa who "has been proven in court to be a pedophile," said Craig Levien, the attorney for James Wells, Janssen's 57-year-old nephew and namesake. Prior to his laicization, then-Father Janssen was placed on an indefinite leave of absence in 1990 because of accusations of past abuse. He retired in 1991. In 1996 he was ordered to cease any public activity as a priest and in 2000 was ordered to stay away from minors. The Scott County jury also decided that Wells had filed his lawsuit, in September 2003, within the parameters of Iowa's statute of limitations.

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