Amended sex abuse suit filed against W.Va. Catholic diocese

WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia's attorney general is accusing the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston of failing to publicly disclose allegations of sexual abuse against a Catholic school teacher.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced an amended lawsuit Tuesday against the diocese and former Bishop Michael Bransfield, who resigned last year.

A diocese spokesman didn't immediately comment on the complaint. It accuses the diocese of keeping secret a 2006 report on sexual abuse allegations involving a teacher in Kanawha County.

Morrisey says an internal investigation alleged the teacher used alcohol and prescription drugs to gain a teenage student's trust before multiple incidents of abuses occurred.

The original suit in March accused the diocese and Bransfield of a cover-up, adding the diocese didn't conduct background checks on admitted abusers and priests credibly accused of child sexual abuse.