Split verdict in Duluth priest's suit against accuser | INFORUM

I am finding this verdict" a bit odd considering the abuse allegations have yet to be litigated in a court of law, as the article notes.

A jury's verdict has both sides claiming victory in the lawsuit that brought a prominent Duluth priest against a man who accused him of child sexual abuse.

The eight-member Duluth jury concluded late Thursday night that T.J. Davis interfered with the contractual duties of the Rev. William Graham when he filed abuse claims in May 2016, but that he did not intentionally inflict emotional distress on the priest.

Davis, who alleges that he was abused by the priest on three occasions in the 1970s, when he was approximately 15 years old, was ordered to pay Graham $13,500 in damages.

Graham, 68, was pastor at St. Michael's Catholic Church in the Lakeside neighborhood. He was placed on administrative leave immediately after the abuse allegations surfaced, and the Diocese of Duluth earlier this month announced that he had been removed from public ministry after an investigation determined that he was "credibly accused."

The abuse allegations have yet to be litigated in a court of law, as Davis' lawsuit has been put on hold while the diocese proceeds through bankruptcy. Nonetheless, Graham's countersuit against his accuser proceeded to trial this week before Judge Theresa Neo.

Split verdict in Duluth priest's suit against accuser | INFORUM