Man Settles Abuse Suit Against Priest and Cincinnati Archdiocese

A man who accused a Roman Catholic cardinal of molesting him, then abruptly dropped the allegation, settled his sex-abuse lawsuit against the church and another priest, lawyers for both sides said Monday.

The Cincinnati Archdiocese and the priest named in the lawsuit did not admit any wrongdoing, the lawyers said, and the amount of the settlement paid to Steven J. Cook was not revealed.

Cook filed the $10-million suit Nov. 12, claiming that Cardinal Joseph Bernardin and Father Ellis Harsham had sexually abused him between 1975 and 1977 when he was a high school student attending a program at a Cincinnati seminary.

He dropped Bernardin as a defendant on Feb. 28, saying he could not be sure if memories of Bernardin molesting him, which were brought out by hypnosis, were accurate.

Cook’s lawyer, Andrew Lipton, said his client was settling the lawsuit because he has AIDS and did not want to face a lengthy court case. The lawsuit had been scheduled for trial May 23.

“The stress of litigation has a bearing on his health,” Lipton said.

Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk said the settlement enabled the archdiocese to save legal costs of $100,000 or more, but at the expense of an opportunity to clear the defendants before a jury.

Cook, 34, stands by his allegations that Harsham abused him, Lipton said. The Cincinnati Archdiocese was accused of failing to protect Cook.

Harsham, 52, was an instructor at the St. Gregory Seminary in the 1970s, when Bernardin was archbishop of Cincinnati. Both men vigorously denied the allegations.

Harsham said he was confident that he could have proved his innocence in court.

Harsham, who works in the campus ministry at Wright State University, has not been removed from his duties.