Order of US nuns being sued for molestation

THE sexual abuse crisis in America’s Roman Catholic Church has focused primarily on molestation by priests, but in Louisville, two dozen people are suing an order of nuns that staffed an orphanage decades ago.

The allegations include accusing nuns of molestation as well as charges against a now-dead priest. While experts agree the incidence of abuse by nuns has been much less frequent than assaults by male clergy, the phenomenon has gained attention recently.

The initial Kentucky lawsuit against the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth was brought by seven plaintiffs on July 15, just over a year after 243 people reached a $25.7 million abuse settlement with the Archdiocese of Louisville.