Missouri Diocese Settles Priest Abuse Case On Eve of Trial

According to yesterday's Kansas City Star, the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Diocese yesterday settled a wrongful death lawsuit for $2.25 million as jury selection was under way in a Missouri state court in a suit by parents of sex abuse victim Brian Teeman who committed suicide at age 14.  The suicide in November 1983 followed repeated sexual abuse by Monsignor Thomas J. O’Brien who allegedly forced four altar boys to perform sexual acts in the sacristy at Nativity of Mary in Independence, Missouri. (Background.) As part of the settlement, the diocese will also place a bench honoring Teeman on the grounds of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Independence. The diocese had planned to defend on the grounds that it did not know that Teeman had been abused or had committed suicide, and also on statute of limitations grounds. The Diocese yesterday issued a statement (full text) announcing the settlement.