Yesterday in Doe v. Archdiocese of Cincinnati, (Ohio Ct. App., May 5, 2006), an Ohio appellate court applied the doctrine of equitable estoppel to preclude the Archdiocese of Cincinnati from invoking the statute of limitations in a suit growing out of a high schooler’s 1965 sexual relations with her priest and the resulting pregnancy. The plaintiff, identified merely as Jane Doe, alleged that various members of the Archdiocese knew about the situation and the Archdiocese paid for her to spend most of her pregnancy at a home for unwed, pregnant teenagers. A nun, who had been one of Doe’s teachers, then pressured Doe to give up the baby for adoption and remain silent about the identity of the child’s father. Among other things, the nun, Sister Mary Patrick, told Doe that her baby would not be baptized, and so not cleansed of original sin, if she did not consent to an adoption.
The court also rejected the Church’s contention that the case would involve it in deciding the legitimacy of Church doctrine on issues such as baptism and sin, in violation of the First Amendment’s free exercise guaranty. The court found Doe’s complaint sufficiently alleged that the Archdiocese’s actions were in fact motivated by a secular purpose—the Church’s interest in not paying child support.
Reporting on the decision today, the Cincinnati Enquirer said that Doe and her daughter were recently reunited after the daughter began searching for her birth mother.
