The Charlotte Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church has filed motions to dismiss the claims of three alleged victims of sex abuse at the hands of former priests. The Diocese has asked the Superior Court to toss the claims of two alleged victims of Father Joseph Kelleher, who currently awaits criminal charges in Albemarle, NC, and the claim of the estate of a now-deceased alleged victim of Father Richard Farwell. Father Farwell pled no contest in 2004 to a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The Diocese says the claims, for abuse that allegedly occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, are too old to be brought. The alleged victims, represented by Leto Copeley, say that the Diocese has a pattern of covering up child sex abuse by priests and that they continue to suffer from the cover-up. The motions were argued in Mecklenburg County Superior Court today and will be decided in the coming weeks. (Please note that all persons accused of crimes are entitled to a presumption of innocence and the mere fact of a criminal charge does NOT mean that the accused is guilty.)
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