Man alleges years of sexual abuse at Seattle Catholic school

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Father Edward C. Boyle (pictured left). (Photo sourced from Washington Secretary of State's "Washington Digital Newspapers" archive)

SEATTLE - A Shoreline man is suing the Seattle Catholic Archdiocese for protecting a priest he says groomed and sexually abused him in the early 1980s at St. John Catholic School.

A "John Doe" filed a negligence lawsuit against the Archdiocese on Monday, alleging repeated sexual abuse at the hands of Father Edward C. Boyle, a priest at St. John who died in 1987 at the age of 62, only a few years after the alleged abuse.

The Archdiocese has acknowledged Boyle's abuses, publishing his name on a list of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse in the Seattle area in 2016.

Doe alleges that Boyle used his 30-year position as priest to sexually abuse him from 1983 through 1984, which he says occurred at the school. The suit further alleges the Archdiocese "knew or should have known" of Boyle's accused sexual abuses, and failed to act on it or notify parents — or protect the child.

According to a Catholic Church sex abuse advocacy group, Boyle was previously accused in 2005 of abuse that reportedly occurred in 1956.

In order to protect their own reputation, the lawsuit claims the Archdiocese concealed the abuses of Boyle and other priests.

Doe is suing for physical and psychological damages, but has not defined a dollar amount.