IN MISSOURI (KSNF)— A federal civil lawsuit was filed last week by 11 people who say they were sexually abused by clergy members more than 20 years ago. The case names eight Catholic churches in the area.
The claimants, who are now adults, say that priests sexually abused them as children in the 1970s and 1980s and that the diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau did nothing about it.
Along with Catholic churches in Mount Vernon, Pierce City, and Wentworth, the case names St. Peter’s and St. Mary’s in Joplin, St. Ann’s in Carthage, Sacred Heart in Webb City, St. Canera’s in Neosho, and Sacred Heart in Webb City.
In the civil suit, the plaintiffs are only named by their names. There is a girl and two boys from Neosho, a boy from Joplin, and a person from Carthage.
There is a suit against six men who used to be local priests and one monsignor. The people who are suing say that the abuse happened because of what the church did or didn’t do.
In the lawsuit, one of the priests named was Father Leonard Chambers. He was moved to almost all of the parishes named in the case.
The people who are suing in court say that the bishop not only knew about Chambers’ abuse of children but also let him continue and then covered it up.