It contends that years after the abuse occurred, archdiocesan officials conspired to steer the victim, identified in the suit only as John Doe, away from law enforcement. And it says the victim coordinators who were supposed to help him instead pressed him to sign forms releasing private information to them but not to police.
"There's severe fraud on the part of the archdiocese, which has been misleading victims into thinking that they are getting assistance from their outreach program," said Marci Hamilton, a lawyer who filed the case.
The archdiocese said it would have no comment.
The suit marked the latest development since a grand jury indicted four priests and released a 124-page companion report last week that said the church failed to protect victims or properly deal with abusive clerics.
One priest named in both the criminal and civil cases is Msgr. William Lynn, the former secretary of clergy responsible for assigning priests in the region.
Three other priests and a former schoolteacher from Philadelphia-area parishes face charges of abusing boys in the 1990s.
Each was released on bail Friday, posted by relatives, themselves, or, in one case, a fellow priest, court records show. The same records show that one defendant, former teacher Bernard Shero of Bristol, tried to kill himself after the charges were announced.
The lawsuit filed Monday quotes liberally from the grand jury findings - and its predecessor, a similarly scathing report released in 2005. Hamilton said the case is unusual because it is built in part on the results of the criminal investigation.
But Dan Monahan, another lawyer for the plaintiff, said the timing was merely coincidental. He said he and his client had been preparing their case for months.
