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SCRANTON — Three lawsuits were filed in Lackawanna County court on Friday against the Diocese of Scranton, accusing the diocese of covering up a history of sexual abuse.

The announcement comes via a press release from Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn, the Kingston-based law firm representing all three of the plaintiffs.

The lawsuits were filed pseudonymously, under the names John Roe, J.N. and J.R. in order to keep the identities of the alleged victims private.

John Roe and J.R. claim to have been abused by the Rev. Michael J. Pulicare, who died in 1999 and who is the subject of several other lawsuits pending in Lackawanna County court.

The law firm says the alleged victim identified as Roe was sexually assaulted by Pulicare in the 1970s in a bedroom at Pulicare’s parents’ home at an overnight trip while Roe was only 12.

J.R. makes similar claims, saying he was assaulted on separate occasions, both in Pulicare’s parents’ home and in the rectory of St. Anthony of Padula Parish in Dunmore.

Both Roe and J.R. claim that the Diocese and its bishops were on notice about Pulicare, but did nothing.

J.N., meanwhile, claims he was assaulted between 1982 and 1983 by the Rev. Ralph N. Ferraldo, also deceased, while Ferraldo worked as assistant pastor in Our Lady of Grace Parish in Hazleton.

J.N. says he was assaulted by Ferraldo in the rectory of the church. The law firm says that the Grand Jury report published in 2018 concerning church sex abuse says the diocese, and specifically Bishop Emeritus James C. Timlin, were notified of the abuse, but that nothing was done.

Both the diocese and Timlin are named as defendants, along with current Bishop Joseph C. Bambera.

The suits join a previous one filed earlier this week by a Berks County man, filed in Luzerne County court, who claims he was repeatedly abused by the late Rev. Robert Caparelli in the 1970s. Caparelli was eventually arrested for sexual abuse and died in prison in 1994.

Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan