A former Kokomo Catholic priest and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette, Indiana, are facing a civil lawsuit that alleges they knowingly wrongly damaged the reputation of a fellow priest following an allegation of misconduct with a minor.
James DeOreo, a Carmel Catholic priest of the diocese, has filed a lawsuit in Boone Circuit Court in Lebanon against the Rev. Theodore “Ted” Dudzinksi, and the diocese, alleging defamation by the diocese and fraud by Dudzinkski. DeOreo is seeking damages of at least $10 million.
Dudzinski, now the vicar general of the diocese, was once an associate pastor and head pastor of St. Patrick Church in Kokomo from 1997 to 2013.
According to the complaint, a parishioner of the St. Alphonsus Ligori Church in Zionsville claimed DeOreo, who was then stationed at the same church, abused him by encouraging him to fast for four days a week. The fasting, the parishioner said in 2021, led to him developing an eating disorder.
According to DeOreo, the investigation by an independent investigator, appointed by Dudzinksi and the diocese, and an attorney for the diocese into the allegations deemed the allegation that DeOreo caused the man’s eating disorder as unsubstantiated and DeOreo returned to active ministry.
The diocese agreed to pay for the parishioner’s therapy for the eating disorder and, according to DeOreo’s lawsuit, Dudzinski both sat in on the therapy sessions and told the man the diocese would reopen the investigation and likely fire DeOreo if the “allegations were of a sexual nature.”
In October 2021, the parishioner sent another letter to the diocese alleging DeOreo also sexually harassed and groomed him.
A letter written by the parishioner and filed as an exhibit in a separate lawsuit filed in 2022, where DeOreo sued the parishioner over the allegations, lists examples of the alleged assault and grooming. DeOreo’s lawsuit against the parishioner was settled out of court earlier this year, according to court records.
The diocese opened an investigation into the alleged sexual misconduct in October 2021 but did not find the new allegations to be credible and “found no evidence” to substantiate them and that no other investigatory work was ever done outside of interviewing the parishioner in October.
On Nov. 9, 2021, according to the lawsuit, the parishioner emailed the diocese complaining DeOreo was at a service with children present and accused the diocese of endangering children.
On Nov. 19, 2021, the diocese issued a decree stating the diocese had “received information regarding a possible violation of the sixth commandment by a cleric with a minor … the information … does not appear manifestly false, nor does the inquiry appear to be superfluous.”
In the lawsuit, DeOreo alleges Dudzinski misconstrued the “veracity of the new allegations” in the November decree, “moved to hide, obfuscate, or destroy the findings” of the diocese’s investigation and misled the parishioner and his family that the decree prohibited DeOreo from being around all youth when it only disallowed him from public ministry with youth.
On March 11, 2022, DeOreo was officially suspended by the diocese shortly after the parishioner’s mother called the diocese to complain DeOreo was at a high school swim meet.
According to the lawsuit, the suspension was due to the “perceived violation” of the decree.
In March 2022, the diocese publicly announced the suspension and provided a statement that DeOreo was suspended from public ministry following “allegations of inappropriate conduct with a minor.”
No criminal charges have been filed against DeOreo.
“The Diocese has refused to retract the statement or otherwise clarify that DeOreo was not suspended for sexual misconduct with a minor, instead allowing the misinformation created by the March statement to persist,” the lawsuit states.
Neither the diocese nor Dudzinski have formally responded in court to the complaint.
In a statement to WISH-TV, the diocese said, “The diocese cannot discuss pending litigation; instead, we ask that you please join us in prayer for all those that are affected.”
