The lawyer for a plaintiff in a closely watched case says the Pennsylvania Superior Court does not need to review its judges’ recent decision on alleged sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, saying they got it right the first time.
Attorney Alan Perer, representing Renee Rice in a lawsuit against the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, filed a reply on Monday to an application by the diocese, which had recently asked the full Superior Court to hold a new hearing in the case.
In June, a three-judge panel of the Superior Court ruled in Ms. Rice’s favor, saying she deserved a trial on her claim of conspiracy and other charges against the diocese over her sexual abuse by a priest four decades ago. The ruling gave new life to a case that a lower court had dismissed as beyond the statute of limitations.
The diocese wants the full Superior Court to hear the case again, saying the panel failed to apply the Superior Court’s own precedents in cases of sexual abuse and instead applied a Supreme Court precedent in a medical malpractice lawsuit. But Mr. Perer noted that the Superior Court panel already considered that argument and said the Supreme Court ruling took precedence.
The diocese had argued that Ms. Rice should not have waited as long as she did to file suit, saying she had sufficient information years ago about her abuser and the diocese that employed him to pursue a lawsuit. But Mr. Perer argued that until a 2016 grand jury report into the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, no one had information on the scope of the “diocese-wide child abuse scandal.”
Only a jury can look at all the facts and determine if she made a sufficient effort to pursue her case before then, he argued.
This case could set a precedent for a more recent round of lawsuits against the dioceses of Pittsburgh and Greensburg after a 2018 grand jury report into those and four other dioceses.
The Superior Court has until Aug. 23 to decide whether to hear the case again, according to its docket.
Peter Smith: petersmith@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1416; Twitter @PG_PeterSmith.
First Published: July 8, 2019, 10:14 p.m.
