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By Kathy Arnold
A Delaware man yesterday sued the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, alleging abuse by a priest. The man said in his lawsuit that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia leaders failed to stop a Northeast Philadelphia pastor from molesting him when he was a teen. He alleged that the employees also failed to help him when he sought their help as an adult.
The 31-year-old Philip Gaughan said that he decided to go public in order to spare others from being victims. "I don't want anybody to have to go through what I've had to go through," Gaughan said at a news conference outside City Hall. "No child should have to go through this ever again."
The lawsuit filed by Gaughan said that the Rev. John E. Gillespie molested him between 1994 and 1997. Gaughan was a sacristan at that time and Gillespie was pastor at Our Lady of Calvary Church along Knights Road. The 2005 grand-jury report on sexually abusive clergy in the archdiocese said that Gillespie had "admitted molesting several boys over his many years as a priest." He died in 2008. Gaughan said that he sought help from the archdiocese victim-assistance program last fall, but it did not come up with prompt response. Gaughan added that he had two 10-minute phone conversations about treatment, but after that, "I never heard back."
The suit names as defendants Gillespie; Msgr. William Lynn, who was responsible for assigning diocesan priests as secretary for clergy; Cardinals Anthony Bevilacqua and Justin Rigali; and two victim-assistance staffers. In his lawsuit, Gaughan alleged that the defendants were engaged in fraud, concealment, and conspiracy to endanger children.
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