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IL Diocese Loses New Appeal in Clergy Abuse Case
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- The Illinois Supreme Court says it won't hear a Catholic diocese's request that it throw out a $5 million jury award in an alleged priest abuse case.

The high court declined without comment on Wednesday to hear an appeal from the Diocese of Belleville stemming from the 2008 jury verdict.

The diocese's bishop isn't saying whether more appeals are planned.
James Wisniewski of Champaign sued the diocese in 2002 in St. Clair County, alleging that the Rev. Raymond Kownacki sexually abused him dozens of times for five years in the 1970s at a parish in Salem.

The lawsuit also claimed the diocese hid Kownacki's suspected behavior and quietly shuffled him among parishes without notifying the faithful.

Kownacki has not been charged and has refused to discuss the case.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
05 25 11 by Newsroom
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