US Court To Mull Expiration Date For Clergy Abuse

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California’s highest court is hearing a precedent-setting case that could expose the state’s Roman Catholic dioceses to another round of clergy abuse lawsuits.

The case being argued Thursday before the California Supreme Court involves six brothers in their 40s and 50s who say they were molested by an Oakland priest during the 1970s. The priest, Donald Broderson, was forced to retire amid abuse allegations in 1993.

The Oakland Diocese says the men are barred from suing because they did not do so during the one-year window the state Legislature opened in 2003 for such complaints to be filed.

The brothers’ lawyers say the men did not make the link between their psychological problems as adults and what happened to them as children until 2006.