News

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…