Ex-church official is accused of sex abuse 3 decades ago

On the eve of a critical deadline, a woman Wednesday sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu and its former vicar general, Marc Alexander, accusing him of sexually abusing her 30 years ago when she was a minor and he was working at St. John Vianney in Kailua.

The lawsuit by the woman, who is now in her 40s and is identified only as Jane Roe 42, was filed as a two-year window waiving the statute of limitations for such civil child-abuse complaints was set to expire Thursday.

Even as that deadline approached, state legislators were negotiating Wednesday afternoon over whether to advance a bill that would extend the Hawaii window. Legislators are scheduled to meet again Thursday to continue discussions.

The lawsuit accused Alexander of sexually abusing the defendant in 1984 when she was 16. Even though she fought off his fondling and grabbing, the abusive behavior continued multiple times after the initial incident, though not as aggressively, according to one of her attorneys, Mark Gallagher.

The complaint also accused the diocese of being grossly negligent in allowing Alexander to work with children.

Alexander’s attorney, William McCorriston, called the allegations against his client "demonstrably false" and noted a lack of investigation that went into the woman’s lawsuit, saying Alexander wasn’t even a priest at St. John in 1984, as the complaint claimed.

"We’re going to fight these baseless allegations," McCorriston said, adding that they will encourage the church to fight them as well.

In a written statement, the Rev. Gary Secor, the church’s current vicar general, said the diocese was distressed by the allegations and noted that this was the first time Alexander was alleged to have abused a minor.

"When such an allegation is reported to the diocese, we take it very seriously and thoroughly investigate it," Secor wrote. "No credible allegation is disregarded and, when abuse of minors is alleged, appropriate reports are made to public authorities as well."

If the allegation is found credible, the cleric is permanently removed from ministry, no matter when the abuse took place, according to Secor.

Alexander technically is still a priest, even though he can’t function as one, Secor said.

Alexander was suspended from priestly service in January 2011, when he was vicar general, after he told the diocese he no longer wanted to perform his priestly duties, according to Secor.

That same month, he was hired as Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s homeless coordinator but abruptly stepped down from that job about a year later. He acknowledged in a letter to Hawaii News Now that he resigned when news of a consensual affair he had with an adult woman while he was a priest became public.

According to the church, Alexander was a seminarian or deacon in 1984. McCorriston said his client had some duties during that year at St. John.

The lawsuit said Alexander’s duties included teaching and working with children.

The lawsuit alleged that the church knew or should have known about Alexander’s history of molesting children. Asked about that allegation, Gallagher said a witness has agreed to come forward and disclose that Alexander admitted to her having inappropriate sexual relations with girls.