Priest accused of child abuse dies
Former Catholic priest Thomas Reardon, who has been named in over two dozen child sexual abuse lawsuits, died Sunday in Kansas City, The Kansas City Star reported.
Reardon, 80, joined the priesthood in 1967 and resigned in 1989. In 2019, he was among 24 priests named by the Diocese of Kansas City as being credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors.
Reardon "left behind a legacy of loss and shattered lives," attorney Rebecca Randles, who has filed some 30 sexual abuse lawsuits against the former priest, said to the Star.
Reardon was assigned to five different churches during his priesthood. For a time he was the administrator of Camp Little Flower, an educational camp for children from 7 to 12, and was in charge of the Catholic Youth Organization.
Reardon was named in a sexual abuse case by 47 plaintiffs against the Kansas City Catholic Diocese, which was settled for $10 million in 2008. He was also named in a case combining 32 lawsuits against the diocese, which was settled for $10 million in 2014.
