On December 7, 2015, the Diocese of Duluth filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. Judge Robert J. Kressel set a May 25, 2016 deadline for creditors, including survivors of childhood sexual abuse, to come forward confidentially and bring a cla…
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(Honolulu, HI) – On January 14, 2016, the Diocese of Honolulu filed a lawsuit naming First Insurance as a defendant and releasing information pertaining to ongoing negotiations in a court-ordered mediation between survivors of childhood sexual abuse and the Diocese of Honolulu and other parties. This suit disclosed that dozens of lawsuits have been settled since the mediation process began in September 2015. Mark Gallagher of Kailua, working with…
St. John’s Abbey today released personnel files of 18 of its monks who were credibly accused of sexually abusing minors. The documents in the files show that several of these monks were allowed to work at other parishes and dioceses internationally, in the United States and in Minnesota…
At a hearing today, United States Bankruptcy Judge Robert J. Kressel set a May 25, 2016 deadline for creditors, including survivors of childhood sexual abuse, to confidentially file claims in the Diocese of Duluth bankruptcy case. The decision requires all information about survivors of sexual abuse to be kept strictly confidential. “Any survivors out there who are suffering in silence, blaming themselves, can now confidentially get help and take action,” said attorney Mike Finnegan, “But time is…
Children’s Theatre Company,Jason McLean Named in Third Lawsuit (Minneapolis, MN) – A third civil lawsuit was filed today on behalf of Doe 116 in Hennepin County District Court naming the Children’s Theatre Company and Jason McLean as defendants. McLean began sexually abusing Doe 116 in 1981 when she was a young teenager and continued to abuse her for several years. Throughout his tenure with Children’s Theatre, McLean worked as a company actor, staff member, and taught acting classes to students. Today, Doe 116 has courageously filed a claim. She has also decided to publicly come for…
(Minneapolis, MN) – A third civil lawsuit was filed today on behalf of Doe 116 in Hennepin County District Court naming the Children’s Theatre Company and Jason McLean as defendants. McLean began sexually abusing Doe 116 in 1981 when she was a young teenager and continued to abuse her for several years. Throughout his tenure with Children’s Theatre, McLean worked as a company actor, staff member, and taught acting classes to students.
Today, Doe 116 has courageously filed a claim. She has also decided to publicly come forward so that the full truth of her story can be known. Her name is Me…
Ruling Will Help Protect Children, Expose Diocese’s Protection of AbusivePriests, and Scrutinize Decisions Regarding Allegedly Abusive Priests A lawsuit alleging that the actions of the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre regarding clergy sex abuse constitute a public nuisance will be allowed to proceed in New York Supreme Court in Nassau County. The Diocese of Rockville Centre has refused to release a full list of its priests that have been…
(Minneapolis, MN) – A second civil lawsuit was filed today on behalf of Doe 76, a child sexual abuse survivor, in Hennepin County District Court naming the Children’s Theatre Company and Jason McLean as defendants. McLean began sexually abusing Doe 76 in 1984 when she was 15 years old. McLean was a Children’s Theater company actor at the theater and taught acting classes to students at Children’s Theatre. Last week, the first lawsuit naming Children’s Theatre and McLean as defendants and brought under the Minnesota Child Victims Act was filed…
Ramsey County Jury Awards $8.1 Million to Clergy Abuse Survivor
Diocese of Duluth Negligent in Supervising Predator Priest
(St. Paul, MN) – A Ramsey County jury handed down an $8.1 million verdict against the Diocese of Duluth today in a sexual abuse case involving Father J. Vincent Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald sexually abused Plaintiff William Weis in 1978 at St. Catherine’s Church in Squaw Lake, MN, a parish in the Diocese of Duluth.
The jury attributed 60% fault to the Diocese of Duluth and 40% to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a religious order based in St. Paul, MN. Father Fitzgerald was …
New Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Filed Today Against Boy Scouts of America Under Child Victims Act St. Paul Scout Leader and Serial Offender Donald Keys Accused of Molesting Scout in 1969-70 (St. Paul, MN) – A civil lawsuit was filed today by a man who was sexually abused as a minor by Scout Leader Donald Leonard Keys in approximately 1969-70. The suit names Keys, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and Northern Star Council, f/k/a Indianhead Council as defendants. Plaintiff Doe 71 brought his lawsuit…