Nebraska Catholic diocese rocked by old abuse allegations
From 2002 to 2015, leaders of the Lincoln diocese refused to participate in annual audits designed to uncover sex abuse allegations and gauge how well church officials were complying with child-protection policies. Church leaders called the audits a pointless endeavor that assumed wrongdoing by the diocese and its priests, but one of the bishops during that period knew of at least two allegations against priests, according to interviews and a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
Many of the new allegations in Lincoln focus on the actions of the Rev. James Benton, a 71-year-old priest who retired last year despite church leaders knowing about abuse allegations against him for at least 15 years.
Dr. Stan Schulte, a 37-year-old chiropractor in Lincoln, said Benton, his uncle, molested him at a rectory sleepover in the early 1990s when he was a boy. Another Lincoln man, Jeffrey Hoover, reported...
