MEMPHIS – The Tennessee Supreme Court is weighing a civil case against the Catholic Diocese of Memphis concerning allegations of child sexual abuse by a now-deceased priest during the 1970s, and the decision could influence the way similar disputes are judged in the future.
Norman Redwing sued the diocese in October 2008, claiming the Rev. Milton Guthrie sexually abused him from 1972 to 1974 while Redwing received counsel from the priest at Holy Names Catholic Church.
The suit does not name Guthrie, who died in 2002, as a defendant. But it does accuse the diocese of knowing that Guthrie was “a dangerous sexual predator” with an interest in young boys and failing to tell Redwing.
Redwing, now 50, was in his early teens when he claims the abuse took place. But he waited until just a few years ago, when he learned about the diocese’s alleged negligence, to file the lawsuit. Guthrie was never charged with criminal wrongdoing.
The diocese filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit at the trial court level, arguing that the statute of limitations on the sexual abuse claim had expired. Tennessee law says that Redwing had one year after he turned 18 to ask the diocese if it either knew of any past sexual abuse by Guthrie, or to sue the priest.