Retired Teacher Files Lawsuit, Claims Priest Delivering Christmas Cards Raped Her While Watching Steelers' Game
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A retired teacher from Ross Township has filed a civil lawsuit against the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese and former priest, Fr. Cyprian Duru, claiming she was raped by him in December of 2016.
At the time, Kathy Coll was 65 and says the attack occurred when the priest came by to deliver a Christmas card while she was watching a Pittsburgh Steelers' football game. She says she was assaulted and raped in the basement of the home where she had gone to a refrigerator to get something to drink.
At the time, then-Fr. Duru was working in her parish at St. Teresa Avila. Duru is from Nigeria and the lawsuit claims the Pittsburgh Diocese knew or should have known that celibacy is not practiced in the same manner as in the United States, and women, especially elderly women, were at risk.
Coll and her attorney say after the attack, Coll was told Fr. Duru was stripped of his abilities to dress, act, or officiate as a priest.
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The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages and information on Duru's whereabouts and his status with the Church. Duru, who claimed the incident was consensual, has never been criminally charged.
Coll, who spoke with KDKA about the attack, says he doesn't want to hurt the church. She is actively trying to get a support group Catholic women called "The Result: SMG Catholic Women's Support Network," to provide a resource for women who are attacked and have no idea what to do.
Stay with KDKA for John Shumway's full report on this developing story at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.
