Lawsuit dismissed

Acting State Supreme Court Judge Barry Kramer last week dismissed with prejudice all 12 causes of action in a lawsuit that had been filed against the Albany Diocese last spring by attorney John Aretakis.

In dismissing the suit, Judge Kramer called various allegations "time barred," "irrelevant," "completely unsupported by the evidence," "pure speculation" and "border[ing] on being absolutely frivolous."

Underlying the lawsuit, but not part of it, were allegations of child sexual abuse against three diocesan priests. The alleged abuse was said to have occurred nearly 30 years ago and therefore lies beyond the statute of limitations. Instead, the lawsuit made a claim of recent stalking by one of the priests to prevent the alleged victim from going public as well as an allegation that diocesan officials encouraged the stalking.

The judge took note that Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney had conducted a "full investigation" and could find no evidence that the priest had stalked the alleged victim.

While the court could not deal with the abuse claims because of the statute of limitations, the Albany diocesan Sexual Misconduct Review Board continues to investigate the allegations, and the priests involved remain on voluntary leaves of absence, pending a decision by that board.

In addition to the stalking claim, the lawsuit charged that the Diocese slandered the alleged victim by refuting his claim in statements to the news media, including The Evangelist. However, the client was anonymous at the time those interviews appeared in the media.

Judge Kramer noted that "there is no factual basis whatsoever [for such charges]. These claims, in my view, border on being absolutely frivolous....Most importantly, the [alleged victim's] identity remained at all times anonymous" until he himself disclosed his name to the media.

Judge Kramer called comments to the media "no more than expressions of opinion or...of the truth, perhaps....Commenting on pending litigation is permissible speech, it's pure opinion and fair comment."

(2/4/04)