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Woman Files $5 Million Lawsuit Against Jesuit Priests

POSTED: 2:05 pm PST February 27, 2007
UPDATED: 2:29 pm PST February 27, 2007

A woman accusing two priests of molesting her in the 1960’s filed a $5 million lawsuit against the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus on Monday.

The complaint filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court alleges the woman, now 48, was molested by the priests while she was 7 and 8 years old in the mid-1960s.

Portland attorney Kelly Clark said the Rev. James Poole and the Rev. John Duffy were friends of the family when they allegedly abused the victim.

The complaint also alleges the Jesuits received repeated complaints about Poole from 1960 through 1963 while he was assigned in Alaska and that Poole was still transferred to the Portland area.

The victim attended St. Mary of the Valley Academy and her family belonged to St. Cecilia’s Parish in Beaverton.

The case was filed in the Multnomah County Circuit Court and is not subject to the protections of the bankruptcy case of the Archidiocese of Portland, Clark said.

This is the second lawsuit Jesuits have faced regarding Poole. An Alaskan woman’s lawsuit against him was settled for $1 million in 2005.

The Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus said in a statement Tuesday that it takes all claims seriously and it plans to investigate the claims to the fullest extent.

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