By Dan Horn
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Strittmatter

A judge on Wednesday threw out a lawsuit filed by six men who claimed the Rev. Lawrence Strittmatter sexually abused them as children.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Crush ruled that the allegations against the priest and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati were too old to pursue in court because the statute of limitations expired years ago.

Church officials said they hope the ruling clears the way for the dismissal of more than 50 other individual claims against priests and the archdiocese, all of which involve abuse allegations that date back 15 years or more.

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Two other lawsuits in which 18 men allege they were abused by Strittmatter are pending. Judges are expected to hear arguments about the statute of limitations in each case in coming months.

In his ruling, Judge Crush found that the six men who claimed they were abused by Strittmatter, who was a former principal at Elder High School, waited too long to file their lawsuit.

The statute of limitations for most claims in the lawsuit is two years, meaning victims must file suit within two years of the alleged offense or of the date they turn 18.

In this case, the men claimed the limit should not have begun until last year when priest abuse scandals revealed the full extent of the priest abuse problem.