MILWAUKEE, March 11 (UPI) -- A judge has dismissed five lawsuits accusing Milwaukee priests of sexual abusing them when they were young children 30 to 40 years ago.
Judge Michael Goulee Monday ruled the suits failed to meet the state's statute of limitations on such charges. Wisconsin law requires child victims of sexual abuse to file charges before they turn 20.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs told Tuesday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel they plan to consolidate the suits with five other cases Goulee dismissed last week in an appeal to the state Supreme Court.
The alleged male victims said they all were sexually abused by a now-deceased pedophile priest in the late 1960s and early 1970s when they were 9 to 14 years old.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the statute of limitations of child sexual abuse charges in 1997.
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee said Goulee's ruling dismissing the suits was consistent with state law but that parts of the law should be changed. The archdiocese has refused to release the names of Catholic priests accused of abusing children.
