News & Events

Sep 05, 2013: Benilde-St. Margaret’s teacher ‘dismissed’

ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. – A Benilde-St. Margaret’s School teacher has been fired after the school says he had “inappropriate communications” with students. School President Bob Tift named Jon Hickman in the email as a senior high engineering teacher and that he had been “dismissed” from his employment effective Tuesday. “Mr. Hickman has had inappropriate communications with BSM students,” wrote Tift. “We understand that Mr. Hickman has had interactions with BSM students through non teaching activities. Any such activities including senior photographs or artistic modeling are not connected …

Sep 05, 2013: Leader-Telegram: Van de Loo faces more lawsuits

  Two additional lawsuits have been filed against former Eau Claire pediatrician David Van de Loo. The civil suits, filed in Eau Claire County, are the sixth and seventh against the 60-year-old Van de Loo, who also is facing criminal charges accusing him of inappropriate contact with 16 former male patients while employed as a pediatrician and sports medicine physician for Mayo Clinic Health System. Van de Loo has pleaded not guilty to 17 felony charges. A three-week trial is scheduled to begin in January. In the latest civil suits, Van de Loo is accused of sexually abusing two former…

Sep 04, 2013: Milwaukee Archdiocese lawyers dispute conflict claim leveled at judge

Lawyers for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s $50 million-plus cemetery trust say efforts to force a federal judge to set aside his recent decision in favor of the church and recuse himself from the case border on frivolous and amount to judge shopping, according to a new brief filed in the lawsuit. The brief, filed this week by attorneys for Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki, the trust’s sole trustee, says U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa has no financial interest in the cemeteries — contrary to claims by the archdiocese’s bankruptcy creditors — and the issue is moot because the case is …

Sep 03, 2013: The Worth Adversary: A Gallup Primer

Don’t know much about Gallup? Here’s a primer on the sex abuse and cover-up crisis in the Southwest diocese. – See more at: http://theworthyadversary.com/2179-a-gallup-primer#sthash.hLvwI3mR.dpuf Don’t know much about Gallup? Here’s a primer on the sex abuse and cover-up crisis in the Southwest diocese. The Diocese of Gallup “includes parishes in six counties in New Mexico, three counties in Arizona and seven Native American reservations.“At its peak, the Diocese of Gallup also included parishes in Flagstaff and central Arizona. Those parishes became a part of the Diocese of Phoenix in 1969….

Sep 03, 2013: Diocese in New Mexico to file for bankruptcy protection over mounting clergy sex abuse legal claims

GALLUP, N.M. — The Diocese of Gallup in New Mexico plans to petition for Chapter 11 reorganization in federal bankruptcy court because of mounting clergy sex abuse legal claims, according to Bishop James Wall.
In a statement read in parishes during Mass over the Labor Day weekend, Wall said the filing “is the most effective and thoughtful course to take in light of the claims from those who were abused.
 “Under Chapter 11, the Diocese will have the opportunity to present a plan of reorganization that provides for a fair and equitable way to compensate all those who suffered sexual abuse…

Sep 03, 2013: Diocese in New Mexico to file for bankruptcy protection over mounting clergy sex abuse legal claims

GALLUP, N.M. — The Diocese of Gallup in New Mexico plans to petition for Chapter 11 reorganization in federal bankruptcy court because of mounting clergy sex abuse legal claims, according to Bishop James Wall.
In a statement read in parishes during Mass over the Labor Day weekend, Wall said the filing “is the most effective and thoughtful course to take in light of the claims from those who were abused.
 “Under Chapter 11, the Diocese will have the opportunity to present a plan of reorganization that provides for a fair and equitable way to compensate all those who suffered sexual abuse…

Sep 03, 2013: Diocese in New Mexico to file for bankruptcy protection over mounting clergy sex abuse legal claims

GALLUP, N.M. — The Diocese of Gallup in New Mexico plans to petition for Chapter 11 reorganization in federal bankruptcy court because of mounting clergy sex abuse legal claims, according to Bishop James Wall. In a statement read in parishes during Mass over the Labor Day weekend, Wall said the filing “is the most effective and thoughtful course to take in light of the claims from those who were abused.  “Under Chapter 11, the Diocese will have the opportunity to present a plan of reorganization that provides for a fair and equitable way to compensate all those who suffered sexual abuse…

Aug 26, 2013: Serious Questions Remain Unanswered at Yeshiva University

When sexual abuse allegations surfaced at Yeshiva University High School in late 2012, the school hired a prominent law firm to independently investigate these serious allegations involving at least two staff members, Rabbi George Finkelstein and Rabbi Macy Gordon with the stated focus being to “perform a full and complete independent investigation of these reports and any other reports of sexual or physical abuse of University students.” Both Finkelstein and Gordon were at the school for a combined 64 years and no doubt came into contact with hundreds, if not thousands of young students.

Aug 22, 2013: News Release: Bemidji School District Named in Three Sexual Abuse Lawsuits

 News ReleaseAugust 22, 2013 Bemidji School District Named in Three Sexual Abuse Lawsuits Despite a complaint to a school official, teacher John Wangberg was allowed unsupervised access to children at Central Elementary School Child predator taught kids in the school district since the early 1980s (Bemidji, MN) – Three lawsuits were filed Wednesday in Beltrami County naming the Bemidji School District, ISD 31 as the defendant in cases involving the sexual abuse of three young students at Central Elementary School. Plaintiffs Doe 12, 13 and 14 allege former physical education teache…

Aug 19, 2013: Lawyer says first Penn State abuse claim settled

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A young man who testified he was fondled by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky has reached a settlement that gives him some peace of mind while putting the university in a better position to recover the money through a third party, the man’s attorney says. The settlement is the first among dozens of claims made against the school amid the Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported that the young man known as “Victim 5,” who took the stand at Sandusky’s criminal trial and sentencing last year, settled for several mi…

Aug 19, 2013: Lawyer says first Penn State abuse claim settled

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A young man who testified he was fondled by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky has reached a settlement that gives him some peace of mind while putting the university in a better position to recover the money through a third party, the man’s attorney says.
The settlement is the first among dozens of claims made against the school amid the Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported that the young man known as “Victim 5,” who took the stand at Sandusky’s criminal trial and sentencing last year, settled for several mi…

Aug 14, 2013: News Release: 32 Victims Allege Sexual Abuse atYeshiva University High School in New York

 (New York, NY) – The nationally prominent child sex abuse law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates, has teamed up with New York-based attorney Kevin T. Mulhearn to announce the addition of more survivors of abuse in a sexual abuse lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York naming as defendants Yeshiva University, Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy-Yeshiva University High School for Boys, Rabbi N…

Aug 14, 2013: Leader-Telegram: Pediatrician facing trial has travel restriction eased

  Eau Claire pediatrician David Van de Loo will be allowed to leave Wisconsin for his three-week criminal jury trial in Superior in January and February. Van de Loo’s attorney, Rich White of Eau Claire, made the request Tuesday so Van de Loo could stay in Duluth, Minn., during the trial. There are more accommodations available in Duluth than in Superior, and staying in Minnesota would decrease the likelihood of Van de Loo and prosecution witnesses staying at the same hotel, White said. Eau Claire County Judge Michael Schumacher modified Van de Loo’s $50,000 cash bail to allow him to l…

Aug 14, 2013: Milwaukee Archdiocese’s creditors want ruling halted, judge off case

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s creditors have filed motions asking the federal judge in the church’s bankruptcy case to set aside a key ruling and recuse himself from the case over a potential conflict of interest. U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa ruled in late July that forcing the archdiocese to tap the $50 million-plus it holds in a trust for the perpetual care of cemeteries would substantially burden its free expression of religion under the First Amendment and a 1993 federal law aimed at protecting religious liberty. Then Aug. 2, lawyers representing the archdiocese’s creditors — pr…