Corvallis Gazette-Times
May 25, 2007

By Gwyneth Gibby

Plaintiff alleges sex abuse during his stay there in the 1970s

A Salem man has filed a $5 million lawsuit against the Children’s Farm Home and its parent Trillium Family Services, claiming he was sexually abused as a child there in the late 1970s.

The suit alleges former Farm Home Executive Director William "Hank" Dufort abused the plaintiff, who is now 45, countless times over a three-year period. As a sex-abuse victim, the plaintiff is not named in the complaint, filed Tuesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Dufort was tried in 1990 and convicted of multiple counts of sex abuse, sodomy and contributing to the delinquency of a minor for abusing six boys who had been clients at the Farm Home. He is serving a 48-year prison sentence in the Snake River Correctional Facility for those crimes.

The suit does not name Dufort. According to the plaintiff’s attorney, Kelly Clark, the Children’s Farm Home was responsible for monitoring the actions of its employees.

(more…)

The Oregonian
May 17, 2007

Coaches in abuse cases had legal troubles
ERIC MORTENSON

Open Bible school - Inquiries may have uncovered a DUI or other problems

A thorough background check during the hiring process would have raised questions about two coaches later convicted of sexually abusing three girls who played sports at a Newberg Christian school, an attorney representing the girls said.

Portland attorney Kelly Clark announced a settlement earlier this week in the lawsuit he filed on the girls’ behalf against Open Bible Christian School and Church. The settlement amount is confidential, he said; his 2006 lawsuit in Yamhill County Circuit Court asked for $1 million each for emotional damages. School officials could not be reached for comment.
(more…)