By Dan Horn
The Cincinnati Enquirer

An appeals court ruled Thursday that prosecutors must wait at least a few more months to see church records that detail abuse allegations against Cincinnati priests and other church employees.

But legal briefs filed Thursday revealed details about some of the church records prosecutors are seeking.

The briefs offered only short summaries of a few of the records, but they described for the first time the kind of allegations that now are being investigated by Hamilton County prosecutors.

The records include allegations of misconduct against a priest, a coach, teachers and other unnamed church employees. All of the cases cited in the legal briefs date back a decade or more, and some were not reported to church officials until years after the misconduct allegedly took place.

In one case, a man told church officials in 1993 that a now-deceased church employee had abused him in the late 1960s. In another, two adults claimed in the early 1990s that a teacher had abused them decades earlier.

Lawyers for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati said the allegations were not reported to authorities because Ohio law does not require a call to police if the alleged victims are now adults who are old enough to report the offense themselves.

"There is no duty to report where a victim comes forward as an adult and claims that he or she was abused as a minor," church lawyers stated in their legal brief.

Prosecutors say all of the records should be turned over so they can be presented to the grand jury that for months has been investigating the allegations.

Church officials say some of the records, including those summarized in the briefs Thursday, are protected by attorney-client privilege and should remain confidential.

"Attorney-client privilege is one of the cornerstones of the justice system, and it needs to be preserved," said Tom Miller, one of the archdiocese's lawyers. "Not just for this case, but for all cases."

Prosecutors have argued that the privilege, which protects communications between a lawyer and a client, does not apply to the church records they are seeking.

To resolve the dispute, Common Pleas Judge Fred Cartolano appointed a special master earlier this year to determine which documents should be handed over.

The judge agreed Thursday to accept the special master's recommendation to give prosecutors nearly 100 documents. Church lawyers immediately appealed the judge's decision and won a stay from the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals.

The appeals court's decision means the church records will remain secret until the court reviews the archdiocese's claim of attorney-client privilege. That process could take several months.

Ultimately, the case could end up before the Ohio Supreme Court.

Prosecutor Mike Allen, who previously has accused church officials of stonewalling his investigation, declined comment Thursday.

The investigation began early this year, when church officials disclosed that five priests remain employed by the archdiocese despite past "substantiated allegations" of abuse. Since then, three other priests have been suspended or have voluntarily taken leave because of accusations of misconduct.

E-mail dhorn@enquirer.com