Man sues Catholic Diocese of Tulsa

<br>TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ A man has sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa for allegedly using relocation as a way to protect a priest he says molested him. <br><br>The lawsuit filed Monday in Tulsa County

Tuesday, October 1st 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ A man has sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa for allegedly using relocation as a way to protect a priest he says molested him.

The lawsuit filed Monday in Tulsa County District Court accused the diocese of ``knowingly'' moving Father Paul Eichhoff ``and other priests from one location to another in order to keep acts of molestation of children from being discovered and reported.''

Oklahoma City attorney W.R. Cathcart filed the lawsuit, which seeks an unspecified amount of actual and punitive damages exceeding $10,000.

The diocese ``failed to report acts of sexual molestation and abuse of children to state authorities pursuant to Oklahoma Reporting Statutes, thereby fostering an atmosphere for its priests to continue the sexual molestation and abuse of children with impunity,'' according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs are a father and son who allege that the younger man, while an elementary school pupil at St. Mary's School in Tulsa, was molested by Eichhoff twice on school property and during school hours ``during 1978 to 1979.''

Eichhoff was then stationed at St. Mary's.

His actions ``were so traumatic as to cause'' the younger plaintiff ``to have a repressed memory of these acts until recently,'' the lawsuit alleges.

Eichhoff, who is the pastor of St. Cecilia Church in Claremore, was placed on administrative leave Aug. 1 following allegations that he engaged in sexual conduct with two minors at St. Mary's in the 1970s.

He denies the allegations and has filed a slander lawsuit against the same father and son who are suing the diocese.

Eichhoff alleged that the two men made false statements in July in which they accused him of child sexual assault and molestation. His lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of actual damages exceeding $10,000, plus punitive damages.

In response, the father and son filed a counterclaim on Monday against Eichhoff.

Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris has said he won't file any charges following an investigation of sexual abuse allegations involving Catholic priests.

Harris did not name any priest, but the diocese issued a news release, stating that prosecutor's decision ``appears to conclude all investigations by civil authorities into allegations of misconduct by Father Ken Lewis and Father Paul Eichhoff, since these are the only investigations of which we were aware.''

Lewis has denied allegations of misconduct in 1994, when he was associate pastor of St. Mary's in Tulsa.

He resigned from his McAlester church in July following the Tulsa Diocese's renewed investigation.