Court throws out priest lawsuit

An Illinois Appellate Court says a Roman Catholic priest can't sue the men who accused him of molesting them as teenagers.

The Rev. Robert Stepek filed the defamation lawsuit in Cook County in November 2006 against defendants identified as John Doe One and John Doe Two.

The former pastor at St. Albert the Great Parish in Burbank denies the abuse and says the men made the allegations to retaliate against him for other supposed slights.

Stepek was removed from ministry in 2006. An archdiocesan review board determined there was reasonable cause to suspect the sexual abuse of minors occurred.

The men filed a countersuit against Stepek and the archdiocese in Cook County Circuit Court.