A lawsuit alleging a decades-long cover-up of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington can go forward as a class-action, a judge decided Wednesday in what is believed to be the first such ruling in the nation.
Circuit Judge Jay Bamberger said the lawsuit will cover alleged victims of sexual misconduct by diocesan priests over the past 50 years.
Bamberger said a trial will be held determine whether the diocese is liable and whether it should pay punitive damages. A second phase would help determine the amount of individual claims, he said.
A trial date was not immediately set.
Steve Rubino, a New Jersey lawyer who has represented hundreds of victims of clerical sex abuse, said he believes the judge is the first in the nation to allow a molestation lawsuit against a diocese to go forward as a class-action.
Many dioceses have negotiated settlements with large groups of victims since the scandal erupted nearly two years ago, but those claims did not have class-action status.