John Doe 1 v. Archdiocese of Milwaukee

Three John Does and Charles Linneman (plaintiffs), sexually molested as children by priests, sued the Archdiocese of Milwaukee (defendant) for negligent supervision and fraud, alleging the Archdiocese knew priest Siegfried Widera had been convicted of sexual perversion and that priest Franklyn Becker had also molested children, yet simply transferred both priests to new parishes with unsupervised access to children. When parishioners wrote inquiring about the priests, the Archdiocese did not disclose their histories and instead reaffirmed positive statements about them; the trial court dismissed all claims as time-barred, the appellate court affirmed, and the plaintiffs appealed further.