Mormon
Church Faces Costly Lawsuit
Wednesday
January 9 8:07 PM ET
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A lawsuit filed Wednesday seeks more than $120 million
from the Mormon church for 12 victims it says were molested as children by a
church elder in the 1970s and '80s.The lawsuit also said the plaintiffs may seek
punitive damages of up to $1 billion each for alleged abuse by the late church
elder Franklin Curtis.
Curtis
was convicted of repeatedly abusing Jeremiah Scott 11 years ago. Scott, now 22,
settled a case against the church last year for $3 million. The lawsuit claims
that two plaintiffs, identified only as BB and SR, told their bishop Curtis had
molested them and the bishop ``responded by humiliating and shaming BB and SR
and blaming them for the abuse.''
The
church denied responsibility for Curtis' alleged conduct. ``Mr. Curtis was never
more than a member of the church,'' said Steve English, an attorney who handles
the church's legal matters in Oregon. ``He was never a member of the clergy and
he never held any other position of leadership.''
The
Mormon church has a collective clergy, in which many older men in the
congregation are designated as high priests. Church attorney Von Keetch said the
title carries no particular leadership responsibility.
