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Saturday, July 26, 1997

Suicide victim's family tells son's story of alleged sex abuse by priest

NACOGDOCHES, Texas (AP) - Jay Lemberger wasn't in court to tell his story of abuse at the hands of the Rev. Rudy Kos, but jurors heard his mother detail the allegations from the witness stand.

On Thursday, the Dallas jury found that sexual abuse by Kos and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas' negligence were the "proximate cause" of Lemberger's suicide at the age of 21.

"He was murdered by the Dallas Diocese because they let Father Rudy Kos into their little regime, and he got away with it," said Pat Lemberger of Nacogdoches, Jay's father, after hearing the diocese ordered to pay nearly $120 million for allowing a priest to molest altar boys and then conspiring to cover it up.

The Lemberger family alone was awarded $18 million in actual damages awarded and $3 million in punitive damages.

When Jay Lemberger fatally shot himself in a Colorado park in 1992, his family and friends were left to wonder why. During the past three months, testimony in the civil case answered some of those questions.

"This put so many pieces of the puzzle together," said Nancy Lemberger, Jay's mother. "Up until now, we were clueless. Nothing made sense."

Last month, Mrs. Lemberger told jurors that she considered Kos to be her son's best friend and a needed role model because of her husband's frequent business travel.

The former altar boy discussed theology with Kos and considered becoming a priest, once dressing up for Halloween in priest's clothing, she said.

But, the mother said, the family didn't suspect he had been sexually abused until after his death. When Jay committed suicide, it was Kos, the family friend and priest, who was called on to conduct the funeral.

While the Lembergers knew something was wrong with their son - he'd been diagnosed as manic depressive and was being treated by a Nacogdoches psychiatrist - they had no idea of the deep secrets he was keeping.

About six months after her brother's death, Tami Sturtz saw an article where young men had come forward with allegations that Kos had molested them when they were altar boys.

"When I saw that news clip, I just knew that had to have happened to my brother," said Ms. Sturtz.

She admires the courage of the young men who testified about what happened to them behind the closed doors of the church rectory.

"They had to stand up there and tell some of the most intimate and disgusting details of what happened to a room full of people they didn't know," she said. "I'm proud of each of them. My brother can't speak now, and they had the voice my brother didn't have the courage for." Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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