REPORT: 60 people sue dozens of priests and nuns for alleged sexual abuse as children

Several priests, nuns and other clergy members are facing lawsuits in Missouri from 60 plaintiffs who claim they were abused as children.

According to a CNN report published Thursday, Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha is among the defendants. The lawsuits filed in St. Louis and other counties name 56 alleged abusers. Lucas is accused of multiple sexual abuses in the late 1980s at St. Louis Preparatory Seminary, where he served as a priest and dean of education.

“I strongly deny the accusation made by an anonymous person. I have never had sexual contact with another person. I have referred the matter to the apostolic nuncio, Pope Francis’ representative in Washington, DC, for consultation,” Lucas said. (RELATED: Over 400 Catholic clergy abused nearly 2,000 children, Illinois Attorney General reveals in new report)

The alleged abuse stretches from the 1940s to 2015. At least ten of those accused of abuse are still alive.

Sixty people claim in Missouri lawsuits that they were abused as children by dozens of Catholic priests, nuns and others; among the defendants is the man who now leads the Archdiocese of Omaha.https://t.co/VtfG8uUBh2

— David Crary (@CraryAP) July 26, 2024

One of the plaintiffs claims that a priest and a nun sexually abused a girl with an intellectual disability between 1999 and 2022. The perpetrators allegedly threatened her with death if she resisted.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis and its current archbishop, Mitchell T. Rozanski, are also named in the complaints. The plaintiffs claim that the archdiocese has long been aware of the abuses and has refused to take action to stop them.

“This shameless cover-up spanned decades and allowed various clergy and other staff to gain access to and sexually abuse numerous children,” the lawsuits state.

In response to the scandal, the Archdiocese of St. Louis released a list of 61 clergy members with substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse in 2019.