Compensation claims against Aachen diocese dismissed after abuse allegations
In the first case, the Diocese of Aachen was sued for €600,000 in compensation. The plaintiff claimed that he was sexually abused and raped as a child, when he was serving as an altar boy, according to the court. The acts were alleged to have occurred over several years. The perpetrators were said to be two priests of the Diocese.
The Diocese denied that these and other acts had actually taken place. In this proceedings, the court, in its statement, noted in its oral judgment on Tuesday that the Catholic Church could also invoke the statute of limitations when acts date back a long time. Therefore, clarification of the raised allegations did not take place due to the statute of limitations.
In the further proceedings, the Diocese was sued for €325,000 in compensation. This claim was also rejected by the court. The background of the case was the rape of a then 17-year-old victim by a vocational school teacher during a tutoring session. The perpetrator was a teacher in public service and also a chaplain.
The Diocese was not legally responsible in this case, ruled the Regional Court. This was because the act had not been related to the ecclesiastical activity of the man, but to his teaching activity in the vocational school.
A third procedure was reportedly already concluded with a settlement. The judgments are not yet legally binding. It is possible to appeal to the Higher Regional Court of Cologne.
- Despite the allegation of rape and abuse by a teacher who was also a chaplain, the Regional Court determined that the Diocese was not legally responsible due to the incident not being related to its ecclesiastical activities.
- In the initial case, the plaintiff accused the Diocese of Aachen of allowing rape and sexual abuse to occur when he was an altar boy, but the court did not clarify the allegations due to the application of the statute of limitations.
- The Statute of limitations also came into play in a subsequent case, where the Diocese was sued for €325,000 in damages for pain and suffering, as the alleged acts dated back a significant amount of time.
- Reports suggest that a third case involving the Diocese of Aachen has already been settled, although the judgments are not yet legally binding and an appeal to the Higher Regional Court of Cologne is possible.
- The Diocese has repeatedly denied allegations of abuse and rape, invoking the statute of limitations as a defense in several high-profile cases that have been brought before regional courts.
