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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nDubuque County, Iowa court records indicate the counts against Rev. Leo P. Riley were dismissed Monday, following a motion for dismissal by his defense attorneys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ruling was made by Judge Thomas Bitter. The Lakeland Gazette was not able to get access to court records to determine why the judge dismissed the charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Riley is still facing a lawsuit alleging sexual battery at a Port Charlotte school in the 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was arrested on five counts of capital sexual battery in May 2023 after four alleged victims said Riley molested them while they were altar boys in Dubuque in the mid-1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was taken into custody by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office and extradited to Iowa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After being transferred to Florida, Riley served as a pastor at San Antonio Catholic Church in Deep Creek from 2018 until his suspension in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the sexual abuse allegations out of Iowa arose in May 2023, the Diocese of Venice suspended him pending an internal investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Riley is still named as a defendant in a 2020 civil lawsuit out of Sarasota County. The plaintiff, referred to as \u201cJohn Doe,\u201d alleged Riley sexually abused him while he was a student at St. Charles Borromeo in Port Charlotte.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lawsuit, which is pending, names Riley as a defendant, along with the Diocese of Venice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As recent as Friday, Riley’s attorneys filed a motion for a protective order regarding a planned deposition of Riley by John Doe’s attorneys \u2014 citing a then-upcoming trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Plaintiff\u2019s attempt to take Fr. Riley\u2019s deposition at this time is clearly no more than a veiled attempt to procure a series of Fifth Amendment responses to be used later in the civil trial of this matter to the detriment of Fr. Riley,” the motion stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Court records indicate attorneys for the Diocese of Venice filed a motion for summary judgment on their client’s behalf in the same case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Damien Mallard, attorney for John Doe, previously told The Lakeland Gazette that Riley would be allowed to invoke the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination during the deposition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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