Boston Dioceses Reach Agreement With Alleged Victim Of Priest
By Bill Williams
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
BOSTON-A man who claims he was sexually abused by a priest who moved from a Massachusetts parish to a Texas church has reached a $2.75 million settlement, the parties said Friday.
The settlement was reached with the dioceses of Fort Worth, Texas, and Worcester, Massachusetts - Boston - but the Fort Worth Diocese said in a statement that it and its insurers will pay the money.
The alleged victim, now 27, claims the Rev. Thomas Teczar sexually abused him during his time as pastor of St. Rita's Church in Ranger, Texas, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Ranger, a town of about 2,500 people, is 100 miles (161 kilometers) west of Fort Worth.
The plaintiff alleged the Worcester Diocese had conspired to move Teczar out of the state in order to avoid legal troubles in Massachusetts.
"No amount of money can adequately compensate my client for the loss of his childhood innocence, and the demons he will contend with for the rest of his life," said Tahira Khan Merritt, the plaintiff's lawyer. "Nevertheless, the settlement does assign accountability and assess consequences."
The Fort Worth Diocese settled on the advice of its lawyers to avoid the "uncertainty of litigation and the related costs," its statement said.
Teczar, 64, who served as a priest in the Worcester Diocese until the mid-1980s, faces four counts of child sexual assault in Texas in a criminal case scheduled to go to trial this summer.
Teczar, who now lives in Dudley, Massachusetts, has denied the allegations. He did not immediately return a telephone call from The Associated Press on Friday.
Last month the Fort Worth Diocese agreed to a $1.4 million settlement with another plaintiff who claimed sexual abuse by Teczar. The Worcester Diocese has in the past settled with people making similar claims against the priest.
