A retired American teacher Kathy Coll has sued a Nigerian Catholic Priest, Fr. Cyprian Duru for alleged rape in 2016.
In the 13-count charge, 68-year-old Kathy Coll also sued the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, Bishop David Zubik, and St. Teresa of Avila Roman Catholic Parish, her Ross Township church.
Coll was a retired high school English teacher and Eucharistic minister who sang in the choir, taught CCD classes and volunteered countless hours for her church.
Coll said her life changed for worse after the sexual assault by Father Duru, who was studying at Duquesne University and assisting her North Hills parish.
Kathy said ;
“I spent 2 and a half years trying to get someone to listen to me,No one was listening to me, so I decided it was time to say I want to make something happen here.”
Coll’s suit details her account of how Duru — whom she agreed to tutor in English and occasionally transported to Pittsburgh — began taking frequent walks through her neighborhood that fall. On Dec. 11, 2016, Coll said Duru stopped by her home on the pretence of giving her a Christmas card. She said when she offered him a cold drink, he followed her to her family room, overpowered her and assaulted her as she screamed for him to stop.
Duru, who remains at Duquesne on a student visa, could not be reached for comment.
Coll’s lawyer, Pittsburgh attorney Sharon Smith, said the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute Duru.
Although Coll underwent a rape kit exam at UPMC Passavant hospital that showed evidence of intercourse, she said authorities said it would come down to a “he-said-she said” case with Duru claiming it was consensual.
