Child Sex Abuse Suit against Legion of Christ to proceed in Conn.
A lawsuit filed by a man who claims he was molested for years by the founder of a once-powerful religious order will go forward in Connecticut, where a judge refused in a ruling released Wednesday to dismiss negligence claims against the Legionaries of Christ.
The lawsuit by Jose Raul Gonzalez of Mexico claims the clergyman, the late Rev. Marcial Maciel, was also his father. He argues that the Legion failed to protect him from a man who was a known pedophile and accuses its officials of covering up decades of sexual abuse by Maciel and other priests.
Hartford Superior Court Judge Grant Miller dismissed some parts of the lawsuit but allowed others alleging negligent supervision to proceed. In the Aug. 30 ruling, Miller said the allegations raised by Gonzalez were enough to suggest the Legion could have foreseen the harm he suffered.