Knights of Columbus sex abuse lawsuit dismissed

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A man who said a Knights of Columbus youth leader sexually abused him decades ago filed a lawsuit past a statute of limitations deadline, a judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill in Bridgeport last week dismissed the lawsuit against the world's largest Catholic lay organization, saying that the deadline to file under Connecticut law was in 2009.

Two men sued the New Haven-based group in December and said a former leader of the Columbian Squires, the Knights' official youth program, abused them in Texas in the 1970s and 1980s.

The other lawsuit is pending.

Patrick Korten, senior vice president for the Knights, said in December that the organization acted quickly to remove the leader and referred the matter to police in Texas when officials first learned of the allegations in 2009. Korten said the Knights established a youth-protection program in 2003 that includes background checks on all youth leader applicants.

Messages were left Monday with attorneys for both sides.