At a news conference today in Pittsburgh, Attorneys Jeff Anderson and Alan Perer will announce a civil lawsuit to be filed on behalf of Zach Tomaselli. Tomaselli, the 23 year-old Maine man who claims that as a 13 year-old he was sexually abused by Bernie Fine in a Pittsburgh hotel room will attend the news conference and speak to his abuse. The complaint, to be filed today in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas names Fine as the sole defendant.
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Mr. Anderson said his client hadn’t spoken of the alleged abuse until other
stories were made public through the grand-jury report.
“This kid suffered in secrecy and in silence and shame thinking he was the
only one and never told a soul until the revelations came out about other kids
and a coverup,” Mr. Anderson said. “That’s what caused him to come forward and
break the silence.”
In a statement released by Mr. Anderson, the plaintiff said he had never told
anyone about being abused by Mr. Sandusky “until the newspapers reported that he
had abused other kids.” He said, “I am hu…
A young priest in California’s Sacramento Diocese was arrested yesterday for lewd and lascivious acts with a minor. Father Uriel Ojeda is only 32 years old. The survivor’s family reported the abuse to the diocese, which did the right thing when it immediately contacted police and child protection. With this case we again see that the problem of priest sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and elsewhere is not limited to certain types of perpetrators, and is, unfortunately, not something that came and went with the 1970s. Catholic bishops and leaders would prefer us to “blame Woodstock”…
We commend this brave survivor with whom we stand, John Doe A, for being the first to speak up and out in bringing a civil lawsuit against his abuser, Jerry Sandusky, and the institutions that enabled Sandusky, Penn State University and The Second Mile. By bringing this lawsuit, this courageous survivor is bringing hope, healing and power to other Sandusky victims who may be living in silence, shame or fear. This lawsuit represents an effort to expose institutional failures in child protection.
Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abused a boy more than 100 times, then threatened his family to keep him quiet about the encounters, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday that details new accusations not included in criminal charges against Sandusky. The lawsuit is the first in the Penn State child sex-abuse scandal and identifies the plaintiff, now 29 years old, only as John Doe. It claims Sandusky abused the boy from 1992 to 1996 at the coach’s State College home, in a Penn State locker room, on trips to Philadelphia and at a bowl game. T…
Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abused a young boy more than 100 times after meeting him through the charity he founded, then threatened the boy’s family to keep him quiet about the encounters, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.The lawsuit identifies the plaintiff, an adult, only as John Doe. It claims Sandusky abused the boy at the coach’s State College home, at Penn State facilities and on at least one bowl game trip. The man who filed the lawsuit says he feels tormented after learning others were allegedly abused after him. …
A former student of a popular teacher at a Los Angeles high school filed a sex abuse lawsuit today alleging that the award-winning music instructor sexually molested him over a two year period starting in 1997.
Media AdvisoryNews Conference TodayNovember 30, 2011 Civil Lawsuit in Penn State Sex Scandal to be Announced at Philadelphia News Conference Today Lawsuit is on behalf of man who claims as a child he was repeatedly sexually abused by Jerry Sandusky What: At a news conference today at the Omni Hotel at Independence Park in Philadelphia, Attorneys Jeff Anderson and Marci Hamilton will announce a civil lawsuit to be filed on behalf of a man identified in the complaint as John Doe and whose abuse was not disclosed in the Grand Jury report. The man claims that as a child he was repeat…
When it comes to child protection and childhood sexual abuse, Jim Boeheim and Syracuse University’s quick defense of and rebuke of the courageous victims is fundamentally wrong. Boeheim’s comments immediately dismissing the victims reflect his own and our society’s general lack of understanding and ignorance regarding childhood sexual abuse. Society is quick to rally around an offender without knowing more than just his or her public persona as a trusted person who is also in denial.
When it comes to child protection and childhood sexual abuse, Jim Boeheim and Syracuse University’s quick defense of and rebuke of the courageous victims is fundamentally wrong. Boeheim’s comments immediately dismissing the victims reflect his own and our society’s general lack of understanding and ignorance regarding childhood sexual abuse. Society is quick to rally around an offender without knowing more than just his or her public persona as a trusted person who is also in denial.
The long history of sexual abuse by priests and their concealment and protection by the Chicago-Detroit Providence of Jesuits continues to unfold. Through the 1950’s and 1970’s, St. Ignatius High School, a Jesuit Preparatory School in Cleveland, Ohio, was a safe haven for priests perpetrating sexual violence against children. To date, more than 33 survivors have come forward with complaints of sexual abuse or improprieties that occurred while they attended the institution. The number of accused perpetrators operating under the ecclesiastical cover of St. Ignatius High School …
We are no strangers to the institutional failure of Jesuit leaders in Chicago and nationwide. The Jesuits (also known as the Society of Jesus) routinely conceal predator offenders and protect their priests and put them before the safety of children.Yesterday we learned of charges against another Jesuit priest after he was arrested in Chicago by the FBI. Father Richard James Kurtz is charged with sexually assaulting a boy 10 years ago in Colorado.
Two days after Jerry Sandusky was arrested and charged with 40 counts of sexual abuse of minors earlier this month, Pennsylvania attorney general Linda Kelly held a press conference to discuss the ongoing investigation, and at one point urged other victims to come forward to assist with the probe.Thursday night on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” a lawyer representing alleged victims of Sandusky not mentioned in the 23-page grand jury presentment said the disgraced former Penn State defensive coordinator used his “position of trust and power, and his caring ways as a coach and mentor to groom fami…
There may be many more victims in the Penn Sate sex abuse scandal. Former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is charged with attacking eight boys over 15 years.CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian has learned Sandusky may have abused more than 18 boys. An attorney representing several of the alleged victims say they told him abuse by Sandusky included rape and molestation. Minn. attorney Jeff Anderson has represented victims of childhood sexual abuse for nearly 30 years, including thousands of victims of pedophile Catholic priests.
This week saw yet another venerable collegiate institution, The Citadel, go public with the fact that it failed to report allegations of child sexual abuse to law enforcement. On Tuesday, November 15, 2011, the president of the military college announced that it did not inform the police about sexual abuse allegations it received from a former Citadel Summer Camp attendee in 2007. The report alleged that, in 2002, Camp Counselor Louis Neal “Skip” ReVille engaged a group of young boys in group masturbation and the viewing of pornography…