Seven adults are suing after a priest allegedly molested them when they were children
Seven adults have brought a lawsuit alleging that the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles and other entities authorized, ratified, and were therefore liable for a priest’s molestation of them when they were children.
The defendants in Ratcliff et al. v. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of LA, a corporation sole et al. also included the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Education and Welfare Corporation and three individual Catholic churches – St. Christopher in West Covina, St. Mary in Palmdale, and St. Lawrence Martyr in Redondo Beach.
The seven plaintiffs sued the defendants as those who employed and supervised Father Christopher Cunningham and the other employees and agents of the churches where he worked. They alleged that the priest had a lengthy history of abusing minors within the church, including molesting the plaintiffs as children. They claimed that the defendants were vicariously liable for the child sexual abuse because they authorized and ratified it, as well as liable for negligence.
In relation to their negligence claim, the plaintiffs asserted that the defendants, by law, had a special relationship with the children entrusted to their care and had a duty to protect them from harm. The defendants allegedly breached this duty by doing the following:
In 2025, U.K. insurers found fewer bogus claims than in 2024, but the cases they intercepted tended to involve more money. According to The Independent, insurers stopped 1.34 billion (about $1.77 ...