DETROIT, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- A Detroit Roman Catholic bishop says as a teenager, he was "inappropriately touched" by a priest in 1945, and wants prosecution made easier.
Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit is endorsing proposals in several states to follow California's example and open a one-year window for victims to file lawsuits over clergy sexual abuse, no matter how long ago it took place.
"I don't want to exaggerate that I was terribly damaged. It was not the kind of sexual abuse that many of the victims experience," Gumbleton told The Washington Post. But, he said he understands sex abuse victims often don't file lawsuits within the statutory period allowed by states.
"They are intimidated, embarrassed, and they just bury it. I understand that," he said.
He said the incidents took place in 1945, when he was in the ninth grade at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, but declined to name the priest, whom he said has been dead for more than 10 years.
