The lawyer for a man whose lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Atlanta claiming that a priest repeatedly molested him more than 30 years ago was thrown out on statute of limitation grounds asked the Georgia Court of Appeals to revive the case Tuesday.

The priest responsible for the abusing "Philip Doe" died in 1997, but it was only after then-Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory released a list of more than a dozen priests and seminarians "credibly accused" of sexually abusing minors in 2018 that Doe came forward with claims of having been molested as an altar boy.

His lawsuit naming the archdiocese, Gregory and St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Dalton, where the alleged abuse occurred, was dismissed last year.

Ruling on a motion to dismiss, Cobb County Superior Court Judge A. Gregory Poole said the claims, including fraud, negligence, maintaining a public nuisance and breach of fiduciary duty, were barred by the statute of limitations.

Doe's attorney, Michael Terry, said the trial judge had erred in dismissing the claims because the two-year statute was tolled by the archdiocese's actions in abetting Father J. Douglas Edwards' many years of abusing Doe and other youths entrusted to his care. 

"This is a lawsuit against the archdiocese for hiring and retaining a priest who was known to be a pedophile," said Terry, of Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore.

Rather than do something about it, the archdiocese just moved Edwards from church to church, said Terry, pointing to a list of transfers "that facilitated the molestation by bringing him into contact with new victims."

In doing so, he said, the archdiocese itself had committed fraud by hiding from Doe and others its knowledge Edwards was a serial sex abuser.

"This is not a suit against the molester," said Terry, but against the church and officials that protected him and directed young boys to serve under him.

"The sun never sets on fraud," said Terry, citing the Court of Appeals 1988 opinion in Hill v. Fordham, 186 Ga. App. 354.

"Is there someone else at the church who was directing Philip Doe to do these things?" asked Judge Ken Hodges.

"They're all agents and employees of the church," said Terry, who represents Doe with firm associate Jane Vincent and Penn Law's Darren Penn and Alexandra "Sachi" Cole.

Representing the archdiocese and Gregory (who now serves as archbishop of Washington, D.C.) Smith Gambrell & Russell partner Edward Wasmuth said the courts have consistently held that statute of limitation and repose must be honored, even if the result is "an extremely harsh limitation" on a plaintiff's ability to file a claim.

"There's nothing unique in this case," he said.

Doe's alleged molestation took place in the late 1970s when he was between 13 and 15. As a minor at the time, under Georgia law he had two years after he turned 18—the age of majority—to bring his claims, Wasmuth said. 

But Doe remained silent for decades, he said.  

"There was no communication with the church for over 30 years; 36 years of nothing," he said. 

Hodges asked why the fraud claims weren't tolled by the church's purported concealment of Edwards' activities, Wasmuth said the victim was well aware of them.

"At the point  where he's abused, he knows the truth; he knows enough to pursue a claim for his injury," he said. 

"But he didn't know that the Catholic Church knew altar boys were being molested by this man, and instead of taking action they just moved him around," said Presiding Judge Sara Doyle. 

"That's irrelevant," replied Wasmuth, hypothesizing a case involving himself being involved in an auto accident with a truck.

"If I'm involved in a traffic accident, my claim accrues today," he said, and no knowledge about the trucking is necessary to pursue that claim. 

"But the trucking company isn't taking action to hide its activities," Doyle said.  

"The argument here is that the church actively hid its knowledge and was aiding and abetting all these years," she said.

"At the point he's abused, he knows what happened," said Wasmuth. "The fact that others knew is irrelevant to his claim."

"The allegation is that the church knew very well that this man was dangerous, but [Doe] didn't," said Judge Christopher Doyle. "He knows he has a claim against this priest … he doesn't know he has a viable claim against this institution." 

"He can't sit around for 36 years and do nothing," said Wasmuth, noting that it was the church's decision to identify its sexual predators in 2018 that led Doe to file the suit to begin with.