09/29/2005

Associated Press

Nine men have filed a complaint against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle in King County Superior Court, saying they suffered sexual and physical abuse at an orphanage and high school overseen by the archdiocese.

The complaint, dated Wednesday, names a half-dozen priests who worked at Briscoe Memorial School in Kent and O'Dea High School in Seattle between 1950 and 1979.

"Abuses were systemic and pervasive," the complaint said. "Boys were constantly subjected to appalling acts of physical violence and sexual abuse."

Those acts included forced sex and being beaten with fishing rods in the shower, the complaint said.

A spokesman for the archdiocese did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday. In response to previous allegations concerning Briscoe, the archdiocese has argued that the New York-based teaching order Christian Brothers Institute had sole possession and management of the school, which closed in 1970.

Attorney Michael Pfau, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the nine men, disputed that. "The archdiocese owned Briscoe," he said. "It oversaw Briscoe, and it was responsible for Briscoe. They hired the Christian Brothers to teach but maintained responsibility."