PITTSBURGH – A man who alleges he suffered ongoing sexual abuse at the hands of a Pittsburgh parish priest when he was 13 years old is now suing both the church and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.
John Doe filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on June 16 versus St. Maria Goretti Parish and the Roman Catholic Diocese, both of Pittsburgh.
Doe, now an adult, explains in his lawsuit that he was an altar server at St. Maria Goretti Parish (then known as St. Joseph Church) in the 1970’s and while there, met Father Edward Huss. Huss was the head coach of Doe’s basketball team and also coached a summer league that the plaintiff participated in through St. Joseph.
“In July of 1975, when plaintiff was 13 years old, Father Huss hosted a pool party at his parents’ house to celebrate the last basketball game of the summer league. When the other teammates were eating by the pool, Father Huss met plaintiff and another boy in the kitchen of the home while they were making their plates of food,” the suit states.
The suit states Father Huss pleasured himself as John Doe was forced to perform oral sex on the other boy.
The abuse continued throughout the fall of 1975, when Father Huss would meet plaintiff in the rectory and rub his shoulders and grind his genitals against the plaintiff. Afterwards, Doe tried to avoid Father Huss, but saw him frequently as he was an altar server and remained on the basketball team.
The abuse eventually stopped.
“Plaintiff disclosed the abuse of Father Huss to the Panel of Diocese 40 years later, when he was trying to become part of the Diaconate program in 2015. After the disclosure, plaintiff was refused admission into the Diaconate and was labeled a ‘sexual deviate’ due to the molestation by Father Huss. Thereafter, plaintiff stopped going to church,” according to the suit.
“Plaintiff turned to drug abuse as an attempt to repress the memories of Father Huss’ horrendous assaults as they were too painful to relive. Plaintiff has suffered severe mental anguish as a result of Father Huss’ actions and has undergone therapy for the effects.”
The suit asserts that not only has the plaintiff suffered a lack of self-confidence in his everyday life, intimacy issues and severe mental health issues from the repeated assaults he suffered, the defendants deliberately hid or concealed facts and circumstances concerning the abuse inflicted upon him.
For multiple counts of negligence, fraud, constructive fraud, conspiracy and fraudulent concealment, the plaintiff is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in excess of the jurisdictional arbitration limits, plus interest, costs, any other relief this Court deems appropriate to recover and a trial by jury.
The plaintiff is represented by Aaron D. Rihn of Robert Peirce & Associates, in Pittsburgh.
The defendants have not yet secured legal counsel.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-20-006869
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com