HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- A new sex abuse lawsuit filed Tuesday
against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena accuses nuns of
molesting Native American children.

The latest suit, which also names the Ursuline Sisters of the Western Province as a defendant, is the second in as many weeks alleging child rape and molestation by clergy decades ago in Montana.

It claims that the mother superior and three nuns at the Ursuline Academy in St. Ignatius abused 22 of the plaintiffs from the 1940s to the 1970s. Another 21 plaintiffs were abused by priests who taught or were affiliated with the school, according to plaintiffs' attorney Blaine Tamaki.

Last week, 34 people sued the Helena diocese over similar clergy
abuse allegations at Catholic schools in St. Ignatius and Missoula,
also dating from the 1940s to the 1970s.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)