A new Catholic Church priest abuse lawsuit accuses the Diocese of Syracuse of failing to properly handle allegations of sexual assault. New York passed the Child Victims Act in an effort to give victims of childhood sexual abuse more opportunities to seek justice and file claims against their abusers. Now, a flood of lawsuits has been filed, many against members of the Catholic Church and the Church itself.

In recent years, the Catholic Church has been at the center of a sex abuse scandal — many members of the clergy have been accused of abuse, and some claim that the Church as a whole attempted to cover up the abuses. A recent lawsuit accuses the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse for allegedly allowing a former priest to abuse victims, but not taking action against the former priest when abuse allegations surfaced over forty years ago.

According to Matthew S’s Catholic Church priest abuse lawsuit, he was repeatedly abused by former priest Felix Colosimo from when he was a kindergartener to when he was a sophomore in high school. Allegedly, the abuse began in the 1960s. 

Matthew says that the former priest took him on outings where he abused and raped Matthew. Allegedly, the abuse took place in multiple states. Matthew’s Catholic Church sex abuse lawsuit says that that the former priest told Matthew that he had committed a grave sin, and told him to not tell anyone. 

Matthew says that in 2013, he repeatedly told the Diocese of Syracuse of the abuse allegedly committed by Colosimo and another priest, Robert Ours. Allegedly, he asked if other allegations had been brought against the officials, but says that his message met with silence — he claims that he did not get a response. The Syracuse diocese lawsuit says that Matthew then notified over 200 members of the church by email in 2015, again to no avail.

The Times Telegram notes that in 2014, Colosimo was defrocked, when reportedly credible allegations of sexual assault were brought against him.

The Times Telegram goes on to explain that in 2018, the Diocese of Syracuse admitted that 57 priests in the diocese had faced credible accusations of sexual abuse of children. Allegedly, the diocese increased the number to sixty-one. The Times Telegram says that then, yet another priest was accused in a lawsuit.

To support his claim that the Diocese of Syracuse did not respond appropriately to accusations of abuse committed by Felix Colosimo., Matthew stresses that in 1981, Colosimo was allegedly assigned his own parish. Allegedly, over the course of his career, he served at multiple churches.

Matthew’s Catholic Church priest abuse lawsuit is being filed now because previously, his claims exceeded the statute of limitations. However, now that the Child Victims Act has been passed, Matthew’s claims fall within the statute of limitations — the law gives individuals a one-year look back window to file civil claims for any abuse they suffered as children. Additionally, the law increases the age limit on adult victims filing criminal charges against their alleged abusers and increases the statute of limitations on civil claims to 55 years old.

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