Alleged victim sues Scottish cardinal

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EDINBURGH, Scotland, March 15 (UPI) -- A former seminarian said he is suing a Scottish cardinal, claiming the priest groped and kissed him when the plaintiff was a seminary student.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said he is suing the Cardinal Keith O'Brien and the Catholic Church after other allegations surfaced, alleging O'Brien, 74, behaved inappropriately toward three priests and a former priest in the 1980s, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

The former seminarian said O'Brien abused him when he was a teenager. He left the seminary months after the alleged incident in the 1980s and decided to come forward after hearing there were other victims, the Telegraph said.

The man later married, had children and has a successful career away from the church, the Telegraph said.

O'Brien has stepped down from his position as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, and admitted his conduct had "fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal."