KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Honduran woman has resolved a federal lawsuit she filed against the Diocese of Knoxville and the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate over her allegations of abuse and intimidation.
A federal mediator informed a U.S. District Court judge this week that the case had been resolved. The woman is listed as "Jane Doe."
No dollar amount is included in the one-page mediation report to Judge Charles E. Atchley Jr.
While the complaint against the diocese and the Carmelites has been resolved, a key defendant in the case declined to take part in mediation and hasn't yet decided if he'll go along with dismissal of the case.
Father Antony Punnackal, against whom the woman had made claims of sexual battery in a criminal investigation, refused to be involved in the mediation talks because a criminal court jury has already found him not guilty of anything the woman alleged, defense attorney Travis McCarter told WBIR.
McCarter said Thursday he'd be meeting with his client in the coming days to decide if they'd go along with dismissal of the case now that the other two defendants have reached an undisclosed settlement.
McCarter said his client had no interest in any kind of settlement offer with her. McCarter as recently as March had sought to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing it contained allegations that clearly had been shown to be false during his client's criminal trial in Sevier County in November.
"We were convinced of our ability to again prove his innocence at the civil trial, but the other parties settled the case at mediation anyway," he told WBIR.
Diocese spokesman Jim Wogan said Thursday he couldn't comment about the settlement. Wogan said he didn't know the settlement amount and couldn't comment about it.
In November, a Sevier County jury found Punnackal not guilty of fondling the woman -- as she claimed -- during a one-on-one meeting in February 2020 at the St. Mary's Church in Gatlinburg. After she made her allegations, the diocese removed him from the church, and he has yet to return there, according to McCarter.
The unnamed Honduran woman first filed a lawsuit in Sevier County and then shifted her complaint to federal court.
The more than 25-page document made various allegations against Punnackal, the diocese and the Carmelites, including that the diocese had interfered in the criminal investigation and that Punnackal had tried to sex traffic the alleged victim.
McCarter in March asked the court to dismiss the woman's lawsuit.
She testified in the November criminal trial that it was not true that the priest engaged in sex trafficking "and was included in her complaint without her knowledge," the defense attorney argued.
The court has not ruled on his motion.
Judge Atchley put down an order Tuesday directing the lawyers to file notice of formal dismissal of the lawsuit.
WBIR sought comment but didn't hear back from an attorney representing the unnamed woman.
Separately, the diocese and former Knoxville Bishop Richard Stika face accusations in a Knox County Circuit Court complaint from a former church musician who says he was raped by a former seminarian and that Stika tried to protect the seminarian from scrutiny.
The church and Stika have denied wrongdoing. The seminarian, who has since left Tennessee, has not been charged with a crime. An internal church investigation found the men had a mutual relationship.
There's been no movement in the Circuit Court lawsuit since June.
