WHAT:
At a news conference, clergy molestation victims will announce and discuss a new civil child sex abuse lawsuit against a former Denver Catholic priest. It alleges that a nun and a priest were told about the molestation while it was happening yet did not stop it. This is the earliest allegation against the cleric, stemming from his very first official parish assignment.
WHEN:
Wednesday, Sept. 7, 11:30 a.m.
WHERE:
At the Robert, Levin & Patterson law offices, 1660 Wynkoop, across the street from Union Station, in downtown Denver, Co
WHO:
A Colorado man who is bringing this lawsuit and others who were also assaulted by Catholic priests, including one or two members of the nation's largest support group for such victims (called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests)
WHY:
Gary Wolf of Westmister was abused from approximately 1961 to 1963 at St. Catherine’s parish by Fr. Harold Robert White. During that time, according to the suit, Wolf reported the abuse to Sr., Agatha Irene at St. Catherine's and Msgr. Dellisle Lemieux. Yet the crimes continued.
Like most of the lawsuits against White, this one asserts that church officials "knew that White had sexually molested numerous children and that White was a danger to children."
White was ordained by the Archbishop of Denver in 1960. Over 33 years, he worked at 11 parishes in Colorado Springs, Sterling, Loveland, Minturn, Aspen, Wheat Ridge, Grand Lake, Steamboat Springs, Eagle, and Denver. For at least 20 of those 30 years, he stands accused of molesting children.
Last month, two other White's victims - Tom Koldeway of Anchorage Alaska and Delbert Nielsen III of Carlsbad, N.M., - became the first of White's victims to file civil lawsuits against the ex-cleric and the archdiocese.
CONTACT:
Troy Gray of Vail, SNAP Colorado Director 970 376 2753
Barbara Blaine of Chicago, SNAP President 312 399 4747 cell
David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP National Director 314 566 9790 cell
Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, SNAP Outreach Director 314 862 7688
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