Trial Getting Underway in Clergy Abuse Case

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A clergy sex abuse trial is underway against the Diocese of Duluth in what attorneys say is the first under Minnesota's 2013 law temporarily lifting the statute of limitation on such claims.

The diocese is accused by "Doe 30" of failing to adequately supervise the Rev. James Vincent Fitzgerald. The plaintiff says that at age 13 he was molested by Fitzgerald at a parish in Squaw Lake in 1978. The lawsuit claims the diocese could have protected him or other children from abusive priests.

The Child Victims Act allows abuse claimants to sue, even if the alleged crimes took place decades ago. The law allows for such claims to be brought until May 2016.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press says many claims under the new law have been settled before trial.