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  Judge to Rule in Gag-Order Hearing
Lawyer Wants Alleged Victim to Stop Talking to Press

TheIowaChannel.com [Des Moines IA]
May 3, 2005

DES MOINES, Iowa -- In a hearing Tuesday, lawyers for the Des Moines Catholic Diocese asked a Polk County judge to issue a gag order against a Des Moines man and his lawyer.

Frank Harty, attorney for the Des Moines diocese.

John Chambers is accusing Rev. Leonard Kenkel of touching him improperly while he was a Dowling student in the late 1960s.

Chambers' lawyer, Mary McGee, filed the lawsuit on Chambers' behalf. Chambers and McGee talked to the media, including KCCI, about the case.

"The diocese has the right and the opportunity to publicly dispute anything that the plaintiff says," McGee said.

Now, lawyers for the Des Moines Catholic Diocese are asking a judge to stop him from doing it again.

"The exaggerations that have been splashed about in the media right now, have already caused a real concern on the part of the defendants with respect to potential jurors in this case, your honor. For these reasons, we ask that the court grant the protective order," said Frank Harty, an attorney for the diocese.

Kenkel is now a priest in Creston and Afton. The diocese has denied the allegations in a statement.

Judge Scott Rosenberg did not rule on the request, but he indicated that he would make a decision as early as later Tuesday or Wednesday.

 
 

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