Court: Las Vegas man’s suit against priest over alleged abuse can proceed

By Cy Ryan

Monday, Sept. 20, 2010 | 10:11 a.m.

CARSON CITY – The Nevada Supreme Court has refused to dismiss a suit filed by a Las Vegas man who says he was sexually abused as a teenager by a Catholic priest from Wisconsin.

The man filed suit in 2008 alleging that Catholic priest John P. Feeney sexually molested him twice as a 13-year old boy while he was a student at St. Francis de Sales parish in Las Vegas.

His civil suit names the Roman Catholic Bishop of Las Vegas and its successors, the Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas, the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay Wisconsin and Feeney. The suit claims Feeney was an agent of the Wisconsin church.

The Catholic Diocese of Green Bay sought a pre-trial dismissal of the case on grounds there was no jurisdiction in Nevada over the church in Wisconsin and the statute of limitations had expired because the suit wasn't filed until 24 years after the alleged incident.

District Judge Valorie Vega refused to grant dismissal of the case against the diocese in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court agreed and said there are still factual issues to be litigated.

Feeney served as a priest in Green Bay from 1952 to 1983, when he was discharged from his duties after sexual abuse allegations arose.

Feeney went to California, then came to Las Vegas, where he was appointed associate pastor of St. Francis de Sales in 1984.

Feeney was convicted of four counts of sexually abusing minors in Wisconsin in 2004 and sentenced to 10 years in prison in that state.

The Catholic Diocese of Wisconsin maintains Nevada doesn't have jurisdiction over it since it discharged Feeney, who then moved west.

The suit in Las Vegas says Feeney put his hand on the thigh of the boy and kept it there during an impromptu confession. The second alleged incident occurred in 1985, when the priest allegedly put his arm around the boy and slid his hand up the boy's thigh under his shorts and touched his genitals, according to the suit.