A defrocked priest sued the Archdiocese of New York for libel today over claims that a recent press release suggested “multiple accusers” had levelled sex-abuse allegations against him.
Charles Kavanagh was booted from the priesthood in 2010 after a secret church court found him guilty of sexually abusing a teenage boy about 30 years earlier.
Kavanagh later filed a defamation suit against accuser Daniel Donohue, who recanted his allegations during a mediation session earlier this year.
Kavanagh’s Manhattan federal court filing says church officials subsequently issued a “false and deliberately misleading” statement that “deliberately implied there were multiple accusers when they knew Donohue was the only accuser.”
The suit — which seeks unspecified damages — also alleges the Archdiocese “deliberately withheld the information that the ‘crime’ the plaintiff was found guilty of was ‘handholding in the lap during prayer,’ something no reasonable person would consider ‘sexual abuse of a minor.'”
Archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling, who’s named as a defendant, said: “I have only just received a copy of the lawsuit filed by Mr. Kavanagh, and have not had a chance for it to be reviewed by our attorneys. However, I stand by the truthfulness and accuracy of my May 1, 2012 statement.”
bruce.golding@nypost.com