High Court Rejects Woman’s Appeal in Suit Against Priests

SAN FRANCISCO-The state Supreme Court refused Wednesday to review a lawsuit brought against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles by a young woman who contended that as a teen-ager she was seduced by seven priests and later bore a child as a result.

The justices, in a brief order, left intact a ruling last December by a state Court of Appeal panel upholding dismissal of a $10-million clergy malpractice suit brought by Rita Milla, now 24.

The appellate court held that Milla waited too long following the birth of the baby to file the suit and that the archdiocese and archbishop could not be held liable for the alleged misconduct of the priests.

Gloria Allred, an attorney representing Milla, denounced the justices’ action Wednesday. “Priests now have a license to sexually betray their parishioners and the church will turn its back on innocent victims,” she said.

Lawyers for the archdiocese were not immediately available for comment.

The suit charged that beginning in 1978, when she was a 16-year-old choir member and Sunday school teacher at St. Philomena Church in Carson, Milla had been enticed to have sex with a priest who subsequently conspired with other priests to have relations with her over a two-year period and to keep the matter secret. The young woman brought suit in February, 1984, against the seven priests and the archdiocese, charging conspiracy, fraud and clergy malpractice. But the appellate panel found in a ruling issued Dec. 18 that the suit was barred by a law requiring that actions for personal injury must be filed within one year of the alleged injurious acts. At the latest, Milla was aware of her potential claim when the child was born in October, 1982, and should have filed suit within the year, the appellate panel said.

The appeal court also rejected the contention that the archdiocese could be held responsible for the alleged misconduct by the priests.