BUFFALO, N.Y., Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A California lawsuit concerning sexual abuse by a Catholic priest claims the Buffalo diocese knowingly sent the accused priest to San Diego.
The victim, now 26, says he was molested at the age of 7 by the Rev. James Cotter. Cotter, who died in 1991, moved to San Diego in 1978 when he retired.
A spokesman for the Buffalo diocese told the Buffalo News that church officials had no knowledge of any wrongdoing by the priest. Kevin Kennan acknowledged charges were made more than a decade after Cotter left the diocese.
"In 1978, when Father Cotter retired and chose to leave the Diocese of Buffalo and move to San Diego, to the best of our knowledge, no accusations of abuse had been made against him," Keenan said.
Alex Horning claims in his lawsuit that Cotter molested him for four years during private counseling sessions. He said he kept the abuse hidden until a suicide attempt in 1995.
