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Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
National
Lee O. Sanderlin, Alex Mann

Can Maryland prosecutors charge priests who abused children 50 years ago? It’s complicated

BALTIMORE — In 1974, Father Francis LeFevre fondled a boy through his clothes at St. Anthony of Padua in Baltimore, one of several children LeFevre would be accused of molesting over the years.

The boy, either 11 or 12 at the time, did not report the abuse until 2008, 34 years later. The Archdiocese of Baltimore, well aware of LeFevre’s history, settled with the victim in 2011 for an undisclosed amount.

Despite accusations of fondling and raping young boys, LeFevre, whom the Catholic Church listed as credibly accused in 2002, has never faced criminal charges. Reached by phone at his home in New Jersey, LeFevre told a reporter he was “not interested” in being interviewed for this story.

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