(LifeSiteNews) — At the request of the plaintiff, Knox County Circuit Court Judge Jerome Melson ordered the dismissal, without prejudice, of John Doe’s civil lawsuit against the Diocese of Knoxville and former Bishop Richard Stika.
According to the plaintiff’s lead attorney, Patrick Thronson, Doe received no settlement whatsoever for the voluntary dismissal. “The plaintiff’s health prevented him from continuing to pursue the case, particularly given how traumatic this litigation is,” Thronson said in an email.
The diocese responded with this statement:
The civil lawsuit, John Doe v. The Diocese of Knoxville has been voluntarily dismissed.
We continue to pray for healing and peace for all individuals involved in this matter. The diocese remains committed to maintaining safe environments and responding with compassion to anyone who has been harmed.
This lawsuit drew national attention. The plaintiff, pseudonymed John Doe, alleged that in 2019 he was raped by diocesan seminarian Wojciech Sobczuk while employed as cathedral organist. He further alleged that the diocese failed to conduct an adequate investigation and that Bishop Stika defamed him.
Stika resigned the See of Knoxville in the summer of 2023, citing health concerns. However, The Pillar reported that Pope Francis asked for Stika’s resignation due, in part, to the lawsuit.
The voluntary dismissal came as a surprise to those of us following this case. In July, the diocese beefed up its legal defense team. In August, both sides agreed to a schedule anticipating a trial in 2027. In September, two priests, Father Brent Shelton and Father Joseph Reed, gave their deposition testimonies on behalf of the plaintiff. After this, there was no more official court activity until the plaintiff filed for voluntary dismissal on December 18, 2025.
Now that the lawsuit is over, the Diocese of Knoxville should conduct a formal debrief. Bishop Mark Beckman should create an ad hoc committee charged with reviewing all records related to the case, including materials submitted by Shelton and Reed in their depositions.
As part of its work, the committee should request interviews with Shelton and Reed to obtain their perspectives on how the diocese’s response might have been better. The committee’s mandate should include the preparation of a written report outlining findings and recommending any fitting changes to personnel, procedures, or policy.
To ensure independence and credibility, the committee should include both priests and laity, but it must not include people who have previously served in the chancery or on the diocesan review board. Beckman might also consider appointing committee members from neighboring dioceses.
Why should we do this?
Because it would have been a disaster if the seminarian at the center of this lawsuit, Sobczuk, had become a Catholic priest. There is no doubt that he was homosexually active. In fact, in the lawsuit, the plaintiff admitted that he engaged in some homosexual acts with Sobczuk. “Plaintiff resisted Sobczuk’s advances, although was pressured into brief sexual touching and oral sex on isolated occasions (§81).” The plaintiff would not have conceded this if it were not true.
The Diocese of Knoxville owes a debt of gratitude to Shelton and Reed for their efforts to prevent Sobczuk from becoming a priest. As vocation director, Reed refused to recommend Sobczuk for seminary. When allegations against Sobczuk surfaced, the priests refused to go along with bad processes for investigating, and they reported Stika to church hierarchs. Both were willing to testify in court about what they knew.
Yet these two priests may have experienced serious retaliation for their efforts.
Shelton was the pastor of St. Mary Parish in Oak Ridge. He was also dean of the Cumberland Mountain Deanery, one of four deaneries that comprise the Diocese of Knoxville.
Within days of signing a letter about Shelton’s role as a witness in the case, Stika communicated to Shelton that he would be removed as dean and assigned to a smaller parish. Shelton interpreted this action as retaliatory. In good faith, he requested a leave of absence and left on a pre-planned vacation to visit his mother in Texas, expecting his leave to be granted while he was away. But on April 26, 2023, Stika sent an email to parishioners of St. Mary Parish accusing Shelton of abandoning his ministry.
Deprived of his priestly faculties, Shelton worked for two years as a layman in Texas. Last year, after much pleading from parishioners of St. Mary’s, Shelton’s faculties were restored by Beckman, who was ordained and installed as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville in 2024. Shelton is currently serving in the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, though he remains a priest of the Diocese of Knoxville.
Although Reed remains a priest in good standing, he does not have a ministry with the Diocese of Knoxville. After complaints last year of “boundary violations,” Beckman removed Reed as pastor of St. John Neumann Parish, though civil authorities found the accusations to be unsubstantiated. In a private letter, Beckman told a parishioner that the diocese found no evidence of sexual misconduct. Reed has been on sabbatical since July 1, 2025. A petition to church hierarchs on behalf of Reed, signed by 435 people, has gone unanswered for nine months.
Three days before Reed was placed on administrative leave, Stika made a post to his Facebook account with the message, “Snitches get stitches.” Although Stika no longer governs our diocese, this may be evidence that someone in the chancery was happy to share Reed’s troubles with Stika.
Do snitches get stitches in the Diocese of Knoxville? Regardless of the outcome of this lawsuit, the Diocese of Knoxville must commit to meaningful reform if we are serious about maintaining a safe environment for everyone.
The author gratefully acknowledges Mrs. Taylor Williams for her faithful editing.
Jenny Hay is the founder of Knoxville Nobility, a Substack publication for local pro-life, pro-family news and insights, including firsthand reporting on Knoxville’s 2021 Planned Parenthood arson.