Defrocked Charlotte Priest Faces New Sexual Abuse Claim

Defrocked Charlotte Diocese priest Robert Yurgel is facing a new claim that he allegedly sexually abused a boy as young as five years old inside St. Matthews Church in Ballantyne. Yurgel has already served 8 years in prison for sexually abusing an altar boy back in 1999. The lawsuit has also named the Charlotte Diocese and the Capuchin Franciscan Friars.

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North Carolina Passes Sexual Abuse Law Reforms Helping Survivors

In November 2019, Governor Roy Cooper signed Senate Bill 199 into law. In the signing of the bill, which went into effect December 1, 2019, North Carolina took a positive step forward in protecting sexual abuse and assault victims. The bill closed loopholes like sexual contact under the premise of medical treatment, or consent revocation involving incapacitation by alcohol. These types of loopholes made it harder to prosecute sexual predators.

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Charlotte Dioceses Sued for Negligence; Claims Alleged Church Should have Known Priests were Predators

Last November, North Carolina legislators opened a 2-year ‘revival window’ allowing survivors of sexual abuse, whose claims were previously time barred, the ability to file a claim against their abusers. The new window has allowed two men, who remain anonymous, the ability to refile their claims after their original cases were dismissed in 2014. At that time, the diocese successfully argued that the claims were past their statute of limitations.

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