A New York Giants team chaplain accused of sexually abusing a young parishoner in the 1960s is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the alleged victim, now 67 years old, according to NorthJersey.com.

The lawsuit has far-reaching implications for Archdioceses of Newark parishes. The suit is the latest claim of inappropriate and illegal sexual behavior to impact the Catholic Church amidst dozens of others dating back several decades.

The plaintiff, James G., has said the Rev. William Dowd began molesting him in 1967 when James was 12 and Dowd was the pastor at Immaculate Conception Church in Montclair, N.J.

When James learned years later that Dowd was working as the director of a children’s youth program, James reportedly confided in another priest in the Newark Archdiocese about what Dowd did to him, NorthJersey.com reported. That priest allegedly told James that it was “normal for men to kiss other men.” In 2002, James reported the abuse to the Newark Archdiocese, but after an investigation and a church tribunal, the Catholic Church returned Dowd to the ministry in 2007.

The New York Giants placed Dowd on administrative leave after the  2002 allegation, but the football team reinstated him in 2007 and he has remained in the role since that time, NewJersey.com reports. Dowd’s name was not on a list released earlier this year by the Archdioceses of Newark parishes, and other New Jersey dioceses, of priests credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

A number of similar lawsuits have already been filed under New Jersey’s recent expansion of its statute of limitations. The new law, which took effect Dec. 1, extends the statute of limitations for civil suits involving sex abuse. Under the law, victims have two years to file suit for claims that would have otherwise expired.

The law empowers victims to bring legal action against sexual abusers and any associated organization that concealed or withheld evidence.

The bill allows adults who were sexually assaulted as children to seek justice for their suffering. The person or persons filing the civil lawsuit can do so until they are 55 years old or seven years after making the connection that their abuse resulted in emotional and/or psychological injury.

In the days since the opening of the two-year window, more than 40 lawsuits were filed just in New Jersey. Several more were filed after news of the lawsuit against Dowd began making headlines.

In New York, some 400 plaintiffs filed suits shortly after a similar lookback law was passed and enacted, reports TheCut.com. The New York Child Victims Act became law in August and allows victims a one-year period, rather than a two-year period like New Jersey’s, to bring claims against alleged abusers.

The lookback windows are expected to open the floodgates for hundreds or even thousands of lawsuits by victims who are just now coming to terms with the impact of their abuse. Many victims have been encouraged to step forward as others who have suffered similar abuses within the same organizations have spoken out in an effort to hold abusers accountable.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.