Two Texas men have filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Dallas and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word for sexual abuse they suffered at an orphanage in the 1960s.
The suit was filed on Monday in Dallas County, alleging that the abuse was covered up, and the institution failed to protect the children in its care. It is asking for more than $1 million in damages.
The plaintiffs, who were identified only by their initials, claim they were sexually abused by Rev. Henry McGill at the Dunne Memorial Home for Boys. McGill, who passed away at the age of 84 in 1996, is on a list of priests with credible allegations of abuse against them, published by the Catholic Diocese of Dallas.
According to the plaintiffs, a nun would wake the boys out of bed and tell them they needed to be “punished.” She would then lead them to the basement, get them drunk, and strip them naked before leaving them in the dark for McGill.
The second plaintiff says he was also sexually assaulted in McGill’s residence, located across the street from the orphanage.
Both men, who were assaulted during different time spans, named Sister Mary Bridgette as the nun who would get them drunk and bring them to the Dunne Memorial’s basement.
The lawsuit also names the home’s supervisor, Mother Anne Catherine, since the orphanage was responsible for the safety of the children. It is unclear if either of the nuns is still alive.
The suit claims the men were mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually injured from their abuse. They ask that any statute of limitations be set aside because the Sisters of Charity covered up the sexual abuse “in general and specifically as to McGill and Dunne Memorial.”
