A man has filed a Catholic sex abuse lawsuit alleging he was molested as a child.

Plaintiff Thomas E. says from 1978 to 1980, when Thomas was 10 to 12 years old, Monsignor Thomas Joseph Mohan engaged in unwanted sexual contact with him.

Mohan was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago in the mid-1930s. He reportedly worked at a variety of parishes there from about 1938 to 1972.

In 1972, Mohan was transferred to California’s St. Anthony Claret Parish in Anaheim in the Los Angeles Archdiocese. St. Anthony Claret later became a part of Orange Diocese.

Mohan allegedly remained at St. Anthony Claret until 1989. It was while Mohan was with St. Anthony Claret that he allegedly sexually assaulted Thomas.

Both the Los Angeles Archdiocese and the Orange Diocese are among the named defendants in the case.

The Catholic sex abuse lawsuit alleges Mohan’s true nature as a sexually abusive priest has always been hidden by the Roman Catholic Church. The church allegedly has “maintained and continue to maintain sexually abusive priests in employment despite knowledge or suspicions of child sex abuse,” claims the lawsuit.

The church depicts its leaders as people of high morals who deserve the respect and reverence of parishioners, alleges the lawsuit. The church still markets its programs to youth and families appear safe for children.

For decades, says Thomas, the church’s leaders have been people the public and Thomas himself thought they could trust and respect.

California Catholic Sex Abuse Lawsuit Allegations

According to the Catholic sex abuse lawsuit, named defendant California Catholic Conference has assembled the Bishops of the Dioceses in California to coordinate, create, decide and disseminate the policies to be implemented in each Diocese in the state. The California Catholic Conference has often pledged to restore trust for victims of sexual abuse by holding the perpetrators accountable and seeking justice.

The Catholic sex abuse lawsuit alleges the pledge is not consistent with the “policies, practices and actions demonstrating secrecy and concealment of information about priests who have sexually assaulted children in California.”

Despite promising that sexual abuse by its employees is a problem of the past, the church allegedly continues to employ people who pose risks to children and continues to conceal information about its knowledge of sexual abuse of minors from police and the public, alleges the lawsuit.

The Catholic sex abuse lawsuit contends the church’s practices have placed untold numbers of children in danger in the past and the policies will continue to place more children at risk in the future. Because children and parents hold the leaders of the church in place of high esteem and believe the church leaders are infallible, the church leaders are trusted to a point that gives them nearly unlimited access to vulnerable children.

In spite of knowing the names of priests who have been accused of sexually abusing minors for decades, many members of the California Catholic Conference have refused to release those names to the public, which places more children at risk of sexual assault.

The Catholic Sex Abuse Lawsuit is Case No. BC723908, in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles.