News

(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…

(New Ulm, MN) – Tomorrow at 3:00 PM in Brown County District Court, the Diocese of New Ulm will ask the Court to dismiss a lawsuit filed on behalf of a sexual abuse survivor, Doe 7, who was sexually abused as a young girl by Fr. David Roney at St. Mary’s Church in Willmar, MN. The diocese continues to fight sexual abuse survivors and their advocates by keeping secret the full list of credibly accused clerics and the documents pertaining to the clerics and child sexual abuse by clergy. Until this information is released to the public, children remain at risk. In March 2015, the Dioces…

Mahnomen County District Court Judge Kurt J. Marben has ordered the Diocese of Crookston – a Defendant in the Doe 19 clergy sexual abuse lawsuit – to produce all records pertaining to sexual abuse reported to have been committed by any priest before 1985. The secret documents will be produced to Doe 19 under seal as a result of a protective order previously obtained by the Defendants in the lawsuit. The documents will provide a clearer picture of the Dioc…

The first civil trial regarding clergy sexual abuse of a minor under the Minnesota Child Victims Act will begin in the Doe 30 case on October 19, 2015, in Ramsey County District Court. The Diocese of Duluth is the defendant. An order issued by Ramsey County District Court Judge John Guthmann denied the Diocese of Duluth’s attempt to be dismissed as a party in the…

Judge Orders Diocese of Duluth to Produce All Recordson Child Sexual Abuse by Clergy from 1956-74 Judge Floerke’s Order in Doe 28 Case isBig Step Toward Diocese Accountability, Transparency    (St. Paul, MN) – St. Louis County District Court Shaun R. Floerke has ordered the Diocese of Duluth, the Defendant in the Doe 28 clergy sexual abuse lawsuit, to produce all records pertaining to sexual abuse reported to have been committed by any priest from 1956 to 1974. The secret documents will be produced to Doe 28 under seal as a result of a protective order previously obtained by …

The settlement the Archdiocese reached with the Creditors’ Committee on July 17 incorporated a claims classification review process that was and is still ongoing.  When the mediation settlement was reached, it included descriptions of different claims classifications for the various claims filed in the Chapter 11 proceeding.  The settlement allowed for a protocol for the Committee and lawyers for individual claimants to review the initial classification of any…