News & Events

A Sauk Rapids man is suing the Order of St. Benedict, St. John’s Abbey, St. John’s Prep School and a monk who lives at the abbey for sexual abuse he said he suffered in 1977.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday by Troy Bramlage is the direct result of a law passed by the 2013 Legislature that lifted a six-year civil statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse. The new law gives victims older than 24 three years to sue for past abuse and anyone younger than 18 an unlimited time to file lawsuits regarding childhood sexual abuse. Previous lawsuits of this nature routinely have been dis…

  In a resounding display of bipartisanship, the Minnesota Legislature has allowed childhood sexual abuse victims a chance to seek justice that was once denied. The Child Victims Act, which passed the Senate unanimously and the House by an overwhelming 123-3 vote, lifts the civil statute of limitations that prevented anyone 24 or older from filing a lawsuit over sexual abuse that occurred while they were children. That gave childhood sexual abuse victims just a six-year window to file a civil lawsuit after becoming an adult. The six-year limit is the same time frame that applies to fra…

A 51-year-old Twin Cities man sued Wednesday alleging sexual abuse by a Catholic priest in the 1970s, the first such lawsuit since the Child Victims Act was signed into law last week by Gov. Mark Dayton. The act strips away the statute of limitations that previously gave child sex-abuse victims until the age of 24 to sue. Exactly what impact it will have is unclear, but St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson, who is representing the man, said more litigation is inevitable. “He was suffering in the shadows,” Anderson said of his client, who is remaining anonymous. “There are going to be many more [s…

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) – Minnesota may be on the verge of a big game change when it comes to lawsuits brought forward by those who were sexually abused as children thanks to a recent exemption to the statute of limitations. “Give this kid and his family a trial,” urged attorney Jeff Anderson. From his ornate office in St. Paul, Anderson has been taking on the nation’s most-respected institutions over allegations of sexual abuse of children. On Tuesday, he was focused on the Boy Scouts of America. Anderson is currently trying to convince a judge that the Boy Scouts should be held civilly li…

The Boy Scouts were not responsible for protecting a teenage Scout from abuse by a leader and claims against the organization should be dismissed, defendants in a Ramsey County lawsuit argued Tuesday. Attorneys for the Boy Scouts of America, its Northern Star Council regional group and the River Hills United Methodist Church of Burnsville, the troop sponsor, argued that the alleged abuse of John Doe 180 by Peter Stibal did not stem from violations of Boy Scout policies and could not have been foreseen. Stibal was sentenced in 2011 to 21 years in prison for the sexual abuse of four Scouts. Jo…

The Boy Scouts were not responsible for protecting a teenage Scout from abuse by a leader and claims against the organization should be dismissed, defendants in a Ramsey County lawsuit argued Tuesday. Attorneys for the Boy Scouts of America, its Northern Star Council regional group and the River Hills United Methodist Church of Burnsville, the troop sponsor, argued that the alleged abuse of John Doe 180 by Peter Stibal did not stem from violations of Boy Scout policies and could not have been foreseen. Stibal was sentenced in 2011 to 21 years in prison for the sexual abuse of four Scouts. Jo…

The Roman Catholic religious order that runs Brother Rice High School in Chicago and St. Laurence High School in Burbank didn’t want Brother Edward Chrysostom Courtney in Chicago any longer. So in the early 1970s, the Irish Christian Brothers shipped him to the West Coast and kept the troubling reasons to themselves. When he was finally ousted from the parochial system 10 years later, landed in a public school in rural Washington and sexually abused a boy there, those reasons came to light. Law enforcement finally got involved. The Christian Brothers dismissed Courtney from the order shortly …

News ReleaseMay 23, 2013Settlement in excess of $16.5 Million Reached in Irish Christian Brothers Sexual Abuse Bankruptcy Offenders operated schools in 17 U.S. States and Canada (White Plains, NY) The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors for The Christian Brothers Institute and The Christian Brothers of Ireland, Inc. have approved the terms and conditions of a consensual reorganization plan in the Chapter 11 cases of The Christian Brothers Institute and The Christian Brothers of Ireland, Inc. Over 400 survivors of sexual abuse are included in the group of unsecured creditors that will …

 May 21, 2013 (CHICAGO) (WLS) — Six men who say they were victims of former Jesuit priest Donald McGuire have settled their sex abuse lawsuit for nearly $20 million. McGuire is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence after being convicted in several sex abuse cases. “This is an exhortation for truth transparency and accountability,” Jeff Anderson, attorney, said. “It is our call today to action to this pope and to this order and all those like it to become transparent.” McGuire was tried and convicted for child sex abuse in Wisconsin and is currently serving time in federal prison …

A judge has ordered a New Jersey priest wait behind bars while a grand jury considers whether he violated a legal agreement to stay away from children. Bail for Michael Fugee remains at $25,000 following his brief court appearance Tuesday in Bergen County, where he’s charged with seven counts of judicial contempt. Fugee did not have an attorney with him at his appearance Tuesday. He resigned from the Archdiocese of Newark on May 2, saying in a letter that he did not inform the archdiocese that he had a youth ministry and was working with children. “My failure to request the required permissi…

Jesuit officials in Chicago will pay $19.6 million to settle a civil lawsuit brought by six men who claim they were molested by a former priest and onetime spiritual adviser to Mother Teresa, an attorney for the plaintiffs said Monday. Donald McGuire, formerly of Oak Lawn, is serving a 25-year prison term after being convicted in Chicago in 2008 of federal charges that he brought a minor across state lines to engage in sex. He also was convicted in 2006 of molesting two boys in Wisconsin during the 1960s. “The amount of the settlement is reflective of the magnitude of misconduct by the top J…

The Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese has settled a civil lawsuit involving a priest convicted last year of producing child pornography.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court against the diocese, Bishop Robert Finn and the Rev. Shawn Ratigan by the parents of a young northern Missouri girl, was settled Tuesday for $600,000, attorneys for the girl’s family said.
It is the diocese’s largest settlement in a single priest sex abuse case, they said.
“It was good for the family and I’m sure it was good for the diocese to get this resolved,” said Gregg Meyers of Jeff Anderson & Associates in…

LOS ANGELES – A judge refused Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that a fugitive Mexican priest molested a boy 25 years ago in Los Angeles and instead combined claims by 11 alleged victims into one trial. Superior Court Judge Emilie Elias postponed trial in the lawsuit involving the Rev. Nicolas Aguilar Rivera and, for now, denied a request by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles for a change of venue. The lawsuit claims Aguilar Rivera molested the plaintiff in 1987 while in Los Angeles, where he was working for one year after being severely beaten in his home parish in the Dioce…

BENNINGTON — The Legislature agreed Tuesday to extend the statute of limitations on crimes committed against children after a local prosecutor sought changes following the trial of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. 40-year statute of limitations Sexual crimes committed against a child will now have a 40-year statute of limitations. Current law only allows for prosecution of sexual assault, lewd and lascivious conduct, sexual exploitation of a minor within 10 years after it is reported or until a child turns 24. Bennington County Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Christ…