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Mar 21, 2008 9:58 am US/Central
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Man Sues Former Priest At St. Rita For Sex Abuse
John Johnson Says He Was Molested By Fr. John D. Murphy 30 Years Ago
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
A Chicago-area man filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing a former Augustinian Roman Catholic priest of molesting him when he was a teenager.
Between 1976 and 1979, John Johnson, now 44, allegedly was assaulted by St. Rita of Cascia Parish priest John D. Murphy, who also was named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by 13 other male victims in 2003. The Augustinian order settled with the men a year later.
Johnson also was sexually abused by St. Rita High School's choir director during a semester in his freshman year, according to Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
The now-deceased male teacher, also acting as a disciplinarian, would make Johnson come to school on Saturdays, and the teacher would molest him, the lawsuit says.
"It's indescribable," Johnson said of what he endured. "If I can save even one kid from it, I've done my job."
Officials with the Augustinians of the Midwest Province, which was named as a defendant in Johnson's lawsuit, were not available Thursday for comment.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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