WHEELING, W.Va. — The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston is wanting a dismissal in the lawsuit against it put forth by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
According to the Associated Press, the motion to dismiss the lawsuit was filed by the diocese last week.
Morrisey’s office filed the suit in March claiming that the diocese knowingly employed pedophiles and is being fought under the state’s consumer credit and protection act.
“The suit alleges the Diocese and their Bishops knowingly employed pedophiles and failed to conduct adequate background checks for those working at school and camps,” Morrisey said in a released statement when it was filed.
Officials from the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston were not available for comment on Friday.
Morrisey said in a statement the diocese’s motion lacks merit and will be met with an official response.
“Not until our office subpoenaed information did the Diocese publish a list of priests that it deemed to have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children, and even then that list did not detail the Diocese’s failure to conduct adequate background checks for those working at its schools and camps,” he said.
“Furthermore, even while the Diocese talks about turning over some materials, it continues to withhold other documents subject to our subpoenas, a lack of cooperation that inhibits the state’s ability to complete its investigation. Those who pay tuitions to fund the diocese’s schools and camps deserve a safe learning environment just as the diocese advertises — not years of cover-up and concealment as detailed in our lawsuit.”