A woman who claims a priest abused her more than 30 years ago also accused the Roman Catholic Church on Monday of paying money to keep young abuse victims quiet.

Attorney, William Crosby, filed a lawsuit Monday seeking more than $1 million in damages on behalf of Teresa Bombrys. Bombrys, who allowed her name to be used publicly, claims Chet Warren began abusing her when she was in the fourth grade while he was assigned to St. Pius X Church.

Bombrys said the abuse continued for 10 years until Warren was reassigned to a church in Taylor, Mich.

Richard Laskos, a spokesman for the Detroit archdiocese, said Monday that Warren was not affiliated with the archdiocese, but had been a priest with Toledo-Detroit province of the Oblates of St. Francis De Sales.

Crosby said that other women who accused Warren of abusing them in the 1960s and 1970s said that they were given money to remain silent. Warren was removed from priesthood and forced to retire in 1993 after another woman accused him of abusing her.

"My silence over these years has allowed the church to continue their history of secrecy in dealing with priests who molest children," Bombrys said in a statement. "I can no longer allow my silence to perpetuate this long-standing policy."

The Catholic Diocese of Toledo said it has no reason to doubt that Bombrys was abused by the priest, but it said the church never paid people to keep silent.

Diocese spokesman Rev. Michael Billian said that the church was "sorry and embarrassed" about the alleged abuse, and wanted to help by providing counseling and support services.

Warren could not be reached to comment. He still lives in the Toledo area, but there was no telephone listing for him. At the time he retired, he said that he had done nothing wrong.

The suit was filed in Lucas County Common Pleas Court against the diocese, Warren, St. Pius X Church and the Oblates of St. Frances de Sales, the order that supervised and assigned the priest.

The scandal is one in a series that has dogged metro Detroit's faith community in recent weeks.

Wayne County prosecutor Mike Duggan subpoenaed Bishop Kevin Britt as part of his investigation into recent allegations of sexual misconduct among local Catholic priests.

Britt handles sex abuse investigations for the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. He is expected to testify next week in the investigation of a sexual misconduct charge involving a local unidentified priest and a woman in her 40s.

"We believe that (Britt) has information relevant to a potential prosecution," said the Wayne County prosecutor.

Another Detroit priest stepped down last week after complaints about his conduct. Father Dennis Duggan, 54, agreed to leave his assignments at two West Side churches, St. Suzanne's Church and Our Lady Gate of Heaven Parish. The Archdiocese of Detroit isn't revealing much information about the complaint against Duggan, but a spokesman from the Diocese said it was sexual in nature.

The archdiocese said it will investigate those allegations.

The Duggan controversy unfolded a week after Hamtramck baseball hero Tom Paciorek said that the Rev. Gerald Shirilla abused him and his brothers when they attended St. Ladislaus in Hamtramck in the 1960s. Paciorek said that there were at least 100 attacks by Shirilla when he attended the Catholic school, which became a Hamtramck Public School seven years ago, Local 4 reported.

Previous Stories:

• March 29, 2002: Bishop Subpoenaed In Local Priest Investigation
• March 22, 2002: Local Priest Accused Of Abusing Brothers