After clearing the House, House Bill 2827 will go to Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski to be signed into law.
(SALEM, Ore.) - A bill that would raise the age of sex abuse victims in Oregon from 24 to 40 will likely become law. The future of House Bill 2827 appeared bleak when we wrote about it May 28th 2009. (see: Will Oregon Stand for Sex Abuse Victims? - Tim King Salem-News.com
Many of the cases originate from churches in Oregon and experts like Portland Attorney Kelly Clark, say it often takes several decades for a person to comprehend the magnitude of their experience and come forward.
Bill Crane from the group SNAP, (Survivors Network of people Abused by Priests) says it is a good day in Oregon and while cautious, he agrees that it is good news on a day that could use it.
Molly Woon with the Oregon State Legislature says H.B. 2827 passed through the Senate Floor today, after moving through the Oregon House unanimously.
Woon says there was an amendment and the bill has to now go back to the House for concurrence. The change, "removed definition of causable connections between injury and child abuse," according to Woon.
She says it amounts to a technical fix.
After clearing the House, House Bill 2827 will go to Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski to be signed into law.
While church and state are separate in the United States, Oregon’s government may be more interested in the welfare of churches than victims.
By Tim King
Salem-News.com
May 28, 2009
(SALEM, Ore.) - Oregon sex abuse survivors joined Portland Attorney Kelly Clark at the capitol in Salem today, to attend a hearing for a bill that would extend the window of time sex abuse survivors have to take action against the person or people who abused them.
Clark is known for taking sex abuse suspects to task and rallying endlessly for victims.
At this time, the cut off age for sex abuse victims to come forward, is 24.
Many of the cases originate from churches in Oregon and experts say it often takes several decades for a person to comprehend the magnitude of their experience and come forward.
The Portland Archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Oregon, much like in other locations including Boston, have worked hard to avoid responsibility and liability for pedophiles who currently or formerly exist as elevated members of the various churches.
Victims and their advocates, including the group SNAP, (Survivors Network of people Abused by Priests) along with Private Investigator Dawn Krantz-Watts of All Things Legal Investigations in Portland, say they are unhappy with the way the bill is progressing and they believe it may fail due to the relationships that exist between the Oregon Senate and various church groups.
In denying, delaying or killing this legislation, Oregon becomes extremely hypocritical as a government that strongly condemns the sexual abuse and exploitation of children, while struggling with basic common sense answers for the people lucky enough to survive the abuse in the first place.
I interviewed Clark and Krantz-Watts and three people who are survivors today after the first round of hearings at the capitol.
CHILD SEX ABUSE VICTIMS GROUP SPEAKS OUT FOR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS BILL
For Immediate Release
May 27, 2009
For More Information
Matt Nees: (503) 780 - 1965
mattn@wintreswishes.org
Beaverton, Ore—Wintre’s Wishes Foundation, an Oregon non-profit dedicated to support of child abuse survivors, today announced its support for House Bill 2827, a measure which would extend the civil statute of limitations for child abuse survivors to sue their abusers.
The bill passed the House of Representatives 60-0 in April, but has bogged down in the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Floyd Prozanski (D – Eugene).
The bill is set for a public hearing and vote on Thursday, May 28th at 8:00am in Senate Hearing Room 343.
Said Matthew Nees, the father of a seven-year-old sexual abuse victim, and the founder of Wintre’s Wishes Foundation, “We believe this is a common sense bill that will both help survivors of child abuse and will help prevent future child abuse. We thank Representative Andy Olson for his sponsorship of this bill, and we call on members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Senator Prozanski, to pass this bill.”
Under current Oregon law, victims of child abuse have until age 24 to file a civil law suit, or, until three years from the date they understand that their abuse has caused them injury. House Bill 2827 extends those periods of time to age 40 with a five year discovery window after that. “We know that most child abuse survivors never mention their abuse until much later in life, well into their 30’s, 40’s, or 50’s,” said Nees, “and this bill merely recognizes that reality.”
The measure has reportedly bogged down in the Senate because of political pressure from religious groups, including the Catholic Church and Mormon Church, on Senate President Peter Courtney or Chairman Prozanski. “We call on all senators, especially Senators Courtney and Prozanski, to side with children who have been sexually abused, and not with powerful institutions that would cover up abuse,” said Nees.
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Contact these Legislators and ask them to support passing this bill:
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A $6 million lawsuit has been filed against the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Oregon claiming it allowed a teenager with a history of sexual misconduct to abuse a young boy and girl in the early 1990s.
The lawsuit filed Thursday by Portland attorney Kelly Clark alleges church officials knew or should have known the teen was dangerous because of similar incidents in Washington state.
The lawsuit says the teenager, identified only by the initials "S.H.," was providing child care "under the direction and authority of the church."
An attorney for the church, Richard Whittemore, declined comment.
In a statement, Clark said the teenager was later convicted of child abuse while working at the Oregon School for the Blind.
The law firm settled a similar case last year against the church involving him.
A brother and sister are suing a Salem church and the Western Oregon Conference Association of Seventh-day Adventists for alleged sexual abuse in the 1990s by a then-teenage babysitter for the church.
The lawsuit claims the babysitter, a teenage boy at the time, fondled the brother and sister several times while watching the two, who were very young at the time.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday morning in Multnomah County Circuit Court, alleges the church knew or should have known about a prior abuse accusation in Washington state against the teen and not have allowed him to serve in positions of trust and authority.
The complaint, which seeks more than $3 million for each plaintiff, states that the abuse occurred both at the East Salem Seventh-day Adventist Church and at the plaintiffs’ home. The brother, now 18, was between 18 months and 3 years old at the time of the alleged abuse. The sister, now 20, was between 4 and 6 years old, the suit says.
The alleged abuser, the lawsuit says, was later convicted in 1995 of child abuse while employed by the Oregon State School for the Blind. He confessed to abusing the brother and sister at the time.
An attorney for the Adventists, Richard J. Whittemore, declined to comment on the case’s specifics.
"We will thoroughly and aggressively investigate this case and try it in court," he said.
The plaintiffs live in Oregon and remain devout Adventists, said their attorney, Kelly Clark, who has sued several religious entities and other organizations on behalf of clients alleging sex-abuse.
Clark said he did not name the alleged abuser in the lawsuit out of deference to a client who felt naming him in the suit could negatively affect his progress in rehabilitation.
But Clark confirmed that the alleged abuser was sentenced in 1995 to 20 years’ probation and ordered into a four- to five-year intensive treatment program at the Oregon State Hospital.
Clark said he is filing the lawsuit now, because the brother just turned 18 and, as an adult, could follow through on his wish to
Reference: Multnomah County Circuit Court Case No: 0904-04942
For More Information:
Kelly Clark
O: (503) 306-0224
C:(503) 407-7381
Kellyc@oandc.com
April 9, 2009
Portland, ORE—A new childhood sexual abuse lawsuit was filed today in Multnomah County Circuit Court against the Western Oregon Conference of the Seventh Day Adventists and the East Salem Seventh Day Adventist Church. The suit alleges that a then-teenage boy, referred to in the lawsuit only as “S.H.,” acting under the direction and authority of the church, sexually abused two children, siblings, in connection with his role as a childcare provider. The suit alleges that the church knew or should have known that the young man was dangerous to children, as a result of a prior incident several years earlier in Washington State. The suit alleges both negligence against the East Salem Church and vicarious liability against the Conference. The man was later, in 1995, multiply convicted of child abuse in his role as an employee at the Oregon School for the Blind.
This is at least the second lawsuit filed against the Adventist Church for the Conduct of S.H., according to Kelly Clark, an attorney with the Portland firm of O’Donnell Clark & Crew LLP who frequently handles childhood sexual abuse claims, and is the attorney for the Plaintiffs in this case. Clark previously filed a case in August, 2007, against the East Salem Church and the Adventist Conference on behalf of a 23 year-old woman who was abused by this same perpetrator. That case was settled in late 2008, just days before trial.
The plaintiffs in this case are two siblings, now 18 and 20 years of age, who were, at the time of this abuse, very young. According to Clark, the little boy was just a year or two, and the girl was about five. “We would not even know about the abuse of the little boy,” said Clark, “unless it were for the confession that the perpetrator made at the time of his conviction. Going back and piecing it together, witnesses now recall the young boy screaming and yelling whenever he was alone with the perpetrator, who had a propensity for physical cruelty at the same time as he was engaged in sexual abuse,” said Clark. The lawsuit seeks in excess of $3 million on behalf of each plaintiff, and the defendants in the case include the Western Oregon Conference Association of Seventh-Day Adventists, and the East Salem Seventh-Day Adventist Church, an Oregon corporation.
The suit contends that both plaintiffs have experienced permanent psychological damage as the result of the abuse. Clark contends that the teen’s background either was, or could have easily been, fully discovered by a reasonable investigation by Church authorities. The suit contends that the perpetrator had a history of sexual misconduct involving children in Washington State, and was under restrictions, either legal or family, to have no contact with children. Clark has filed two other cases against the Oregon Adventists in the last six months as well, both arising out of Roseburg, one from the Milo Academy, and one involving the Roseburg Junior Academy. Those cases are still pending.
FLORENCE, Ore. (AP) — An extended living center in Florence is being sued for alleged abuse and neglect for the second time in two years.
A lawsuit was filed Thursday in Lane County on behalf of an unidentified couple for $1 million against Elderberry Square.
Attorney Kelly Clark said the 80-year old man was suffering from advanced dementia. Clark said when his wife visited him over two months she repeatedly found him unattended and soiled in his own waste and that he fell several times and broke a wrist.
Clark said the previous suit was brought in 2007 and was prompted by the death of an Alzheimer’s patient who allegedly was also repeatedly left unattended.
He said in that case state investigators determined the allegations to be documented.
“Our position is that you don’t get a second chance, let alone a third, when it comes to protecting vulnerable senior citizens” Attorney Kelly Clark
(EUGENE, Ore.) - Elderberry Square, an assisted living facility located in Florence, Oregon is the subject of a second lawsuit in as many years, alleging severe neglect and abuse.
The $1,000,000 lawsuit was filed today in Lane County Circuit Court against Elderberry Square, brought by the wife and guardian of an 80-year old man, who at the time of his admission to the facility was suffering from advanced dementia.
This suit alleges he was left alone and unsupervised, resulting in repeated falls, one of which resulted in a broken wrist. In addition, the man’s wife, on numerous visits to Elderberry, found her husband unattended and soiled with his own waste matter.
All of this occurred in the little more than two-month period following his admission to Elderberry.
“Our position is that you don’t get a second chance, let alone a third, when it comes to protecting vulnerable senior citizens,” said Kelly Clark of the firm O’DONNELL CLARK & CREW LLP, which filed the lawsuit.
“What is enraging beyond belief is that this is the second time – just that we know of – that this kind of thing has happened at Elderberry.”
A similar lawsuit was filed by Clark against Elderberry in 2007, involving an Alzheimer’s patient who was repeatedly left unattended, resulting in numerous falls within the two-week period of time following his admission to Elderberry.
The last of these falls, according to the lawsuit, caused his death. In that case, a state investigation determined the allegations of neglect to be substantiated. In the current case, investigators from the Oregon Department of Human Services looked into two complaints against Elderberry and determined the allegations of wrongdoing to be substantiated. However, the agency’s final report on one of the complaints reversed the investigator’s conclusions.
Mr. Clark and his client plan to challenge this finding through an appeal.
Both lawsuits allege that the management and admissions personnel at Elderberry actively misrepresented that they have the expertise, experience, and staffing necessary for the laborintensive work of caring for Alzheimer’s and senile dementia patients. “It was classic bait and switch,” said Clark, adding, “We believe they knowingly misled these vulnerable families.”
Reference:
Lane Country Circuit Court - Case Number 16-09-03668
For More Information:
Kelly Clark
O: (503) 306-0224
C:(503) 407-7381
Kellyc@oandc.com
February 19, 2009
Eugene, Ore—Elderberry Square, an assisted living facility located in Florence, Oregon is today the subject of a second lawsuit in as many years, alleging severe neglect and abuse. The $1,000,000 lawsuit was filed today in Lane County Circuit Court against Elderberry Square, brought by the wife and guardian of an 80-year old man, who at the time of his admission to the facility was suffering from advanced dementia.
This suit alleges he was left alone and unsupervised, resulting in repeated falls, one of which resulted in a broken wrist. In addition, the man’s wife, on numerous visits to Elderberry, found her husband unattended and soiled with his own waste matter. All of this occurred in the little more than two-month period following his admission to Elderberry.
"Our position is that you don’t get a second chance, let alone a third, when it comes to protecting vulnerable senior citizens,” said Kelly Clark of the firm O’Donnell Clark & Crew LLP, which filed the lawsuit. “What is enraging beyond belief is that this is the second time – just that we know of – that this kind of thing has happened at Elderberry.”
A similar lawsuit was filed by Clark against Elderberry in 2007, involving an Alzheimer’s patient who was repeatedly left unattended, resulting in numerous falls within the two-week period of time following his admission to Elderberry. The last of these falls, according to the lawsuit, caused his death. In that case, a state investigation determined the allegations of neglect to be substantiated. In the current case, investigators from the Oregon Department of Human Services looked into two complaints against Elderberry and determined the allegations of wrongdoing to be substantiated. However, the agency’s final report on one of the complaints reversed the investigator’s conclusions. Mr. Clark and his client plan to challenge this finding through an appeal.
Both lawsuits allege that the management and admissions personnel at Elderberry actively misrepresented that they have the expertise, experience, and staffing necessary for the labor-intensive work of caring for Alzheimer’s and senile dementia patients. “It was classic bait and switch,” said Clark, adding, “We believe they knowingly misled these vulnerable families.”
by Bryan Denson and Nancy Haught The Oregonian
Wednesday February 18, 2009
The ink on the Northwest Jesuits’ bankruptcy filing was still drying Wednesday when wrangling over the value of the Catholic order’s assets commenced.
Officials at a handful of Jesuit-sponsored institutions said they don’t belong to the Jesuits and aren’t subject to their legal problems, while lawyers who represent people sexually abused by priests said the province has grossly underestimated its worth.
Kelly Clark, a Portland lawyer who has represented victims of Jesuit priest abuse, said he was surprised to read that the Jesuits declared assets of just $4.8 million in their Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing late Tuesday in Portland. And he expects a legal fight over properties commonly associated with the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, better known as the Jesuits.
"They’re going to say that they don’t own Jesuit High School, Gonzaga University, Seattle University and maybe other institutions — even though those institutions were Jesuit established, Jesuit dominated," Clark said. "I think the legal question will be, are they Jesuit controlled for purposes of determining equitable ownership? So there are going to be a number of hard-fought legal battles."
Clark said the Jesuits’ estimate of assets isn’t unprecedented. In 2004, he said, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland underestimated the value of its assets in its initial bankruptcy filing, a calculation that — after much legal wrangling — was corrected by the court. He predicted a similar battle ahead for the Jesuits.
The Oregon Province of Jesuits, including its leader, the Rev. Patrick J. Lee, would not comment on the bankruptcy on Wednesday, said spokesman Pat Walsh. But the leadership of Jesuit High School, St. Andrew Nativity School and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps said their institutions are not owned, financed or governed by the Jesuit province and that the bankruptcy won’t affect their programs.
"We have never shared assets with the province," said John Gladstone, president of Jesuit High School in Beaverton. The school has been separately incorporated since its founding in 1956, he said. Expecting that the Oregon Province might declare bankruptcy, the school consulted its own attorneys. "They looked at our bylaws, how we’re set up financially and structurally … and they told us we’re very safe," he said.
In a letter sent to the parents of Jesuit High’s 1,160 students Wednesday, Gladstone and Principal Sandy Satterberg said there were no pending claims against any Jesuit High priest and that the school is "not at risk in any way as a result of the province’s bankruptcy filing."
Lawyers who represent victims of alleged abuse by Jesuit priests scoffed at Tuesday evening’s comments by Lee, who had described the order’s decision to file for Chapter 11 reorganization as the only way to offer a fair settlement to claimants.
"Does anybody really believe that the Jesuits, who’ve raped hundreds and hundreds of Native (American) kids, are filing bankruptcy to help them?" asked John Manly, a Newport Beach, Calif., lawyer who represents native Alaskans who have accused Jesuit priests and their colleagues of sexual abuse.
Tuesday’s filing wasn’t an altruistic endeavor, he said, describing it as a calculated effort to prevent more victims from coming forward, halt the legal discovery process — and the bad press that comes with it — and downplay the order’s assets.
"I’ve been litigating with these guys for the better part of 10 years," Manly said. "I’ve never seen them try and help a victim. Their idea of help is to file a motion for summary judgment and dismiss. They fought the Alaska Supreme Court to get these cases dismissed and lost, and that’s why they’re in bankruptcy — not to help people, (but) because essentially their legal options have run out."
In other developments, a Portland, Ore., man has filed a $4 million lawsuit against the Franciscan Friars of California, alleging childhood sexual abuse by a priest.
In an unrelated lawsuit seeking $3.25 million, a pastor for the Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and its Roseburg Junior Academy was accused of sexually abusing a 5-year-old girl in 1992.
The complaints were filed by Portland lawyer Kelly Clark, one of the lead attorneys in a number of sexual abuse cases against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland that ended in a $50 million settlement in 2007. Three years earlier, the archdiocese was the first in the nation to declare bankruptcy.
Calls to Franciscan officials were not immediately returned Wednesday.
An Adventist spokeswoman referred calls to an attorney, who was not immediately available.
The lawsuit against the Franciscan Friars, a Catholic order, was filed Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
A 62-year-old man listed only by his initials alleges he was abused as a teenager by Father Claude Riffel at the St. Francis Minor Seminary in Troutdale, east of Portland, in the early 1960s.
According to the lawsuit, Riffel was dean of discipline for the school when he would call the teenager out of class on the pretext of assigning work and then abuse him.
In a statement released with the lawsuit, Clark noted the Franciscan Friars of California is an independent Catholic organization unaffiliated with any diocese.
The lawsuit against the Adventist pastor, who was identified only by his initials, alleges he took the 5-year-old girl to an isolated area of the Roseburg Junior Academy during a "week of prayer" and abused her.
Clark called the case "one of the worst I have seen."
The girl is now 21 and attends community college, he said.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Portland man has filed a $4 million lawsuit against the Franciscan Friars of California, alleging childhood sexual abuse by a priest.
The 62-year-old man was listed only by his initials in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
The Franciscan Friars are an order of the Roman Catholic Church. The complaint alleges the man was abused as a teenager by Father Claude Riffel at the St. Francis Minor Seminary in Troutdale in the early 1960s.
In an unrelated lawsuit seeking $3.25 million, a pastor for the Western Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and its Roseburg Junior Academy was accused of sexually abusing a 5-year-old girl in 1992.
For More Information:
Attorney Kelly Clark
(503) 306-0224 or kellyc@oandc.com
Portland, Ore–Today a Portland man filed a $4M child sexual abuse lawsuit against the Franciscan Friars of California, an order of the Roman Catholic Church, for abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of Father Claude Riffel at the St Francis Minor Seminary in Troutdale in 1962-65. According to the lawsuit, Fr Riffel, then the Dean of discipline for the school, would call the then 15 year old boy out of class on the pretext of assigning him work tasks, at which time he would abuse him. The abuse occurred, according to the suit on “scores” of occasions.
The case was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court by Portland attorney Kelly Clark, who frequently handles such cases against churches, schools, the Boy Scouts, athletic leagues and other “institutions of trust” that work with children. St Francis Seminary was owned and operated by the Franciscan Friars, headquartered in California. The Franciscan Friars of California is a part of the worldwide Catholic order of Franciscans, formally known as the Friars Minor. It is an independent Catholic entity unaffiliated with any diocese, including the Archdiocese of Portland, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2004 as a result of a torrent of child abuse lawsuits.
CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST OREGON ADVENTIST CONFERENCE, AND ROSEBURG JUNIOR ACADEMY FOR 1992 RAPE OF FIVE YEAR-OLD
February 6, 2009
Sally Roe v. Western Oregon Conference Association of Seventh Day Adventists
For More Information:
Attorney Kelly Clark
(503) 306-0224 or kellyc@oandc.com
Portland, Ore—A new childhood sexual abuse lawsuit was filed today in Multnomah County Circuit Court against the Western Oregon Conference of Seventh Day Adventists, and the Roseburg Junior Academy, a private religious school run by the Adventists in Roseburg. The suit alleges that in 1992 a five year old girl was subject to sexual abuse and rape by an Adventist pastor who was assigned to Roseburg Junior Academy to conduct a “week of prayer.” The suit alleges that the pastor, utilizing the respect, trust, and obedience that a five year-old Adventist child would have for a pastor secluded her into an isolated area of the school, sexually abused and raped her.
“What we intend to prove will write an awful story, one of the worst I have seen,” said Kelly Clark, attorney for the victim, who frequently handles childhood sexual abuse cases. “The story this young woman, now 21, tells is chilling. She absolutely trusted the Church, the school, and anyone affiliated with them, especially a pastor there for week of prayer. To say she has been traumatized, confused, ashamed and psychologically wounded by this would be a massive understatement. This was not the kind of sexual abuse, like we often see, where the perpetrator feigns affection and tenderness. This was an outright assault, complete with cruelty, force, and threats.”
The suit seeks $3 million in general damages, and $250,000.00 for economic damages, primarily for past and future counseling and psychological treatment.
The suit was filed in Multnomah County under a provision of Oregon law that allows a lawsuit to be filed any place where a defendant regularly conducts business, according to Clark, and since the Adventists’ conference and churches are in Multnomah County, venue is proper there. According to Clark, the suit, should it proceed along normal lines, would process through document exchange, depositions, investigation, and motions, and would likely be ready for a jury trial late this year or early 2010.
According to Clark, the victim is now a young woman, 21, attending community college. She has not been identified in the suit, under standard practice in Oregon courts. “She’s struggling,” said Clark, “but she doing the right things to get healed. It will be a long road.”
This is the second suit filed against the Adventist Church for one of its Roseburg area schools in the last few months. In late 2008, Clark filed a suit against the Milo Adventist Academy located near Roseburg, for sexual abuse of a teenage girl by an adult staff member there. That case is in process and scheduled in the regular course for trial sometime later this year.
Just before Christmas yet another case against the Adventists, was resolved, said Clark this one arising out of sexual abuse of a child at the East Salem Seventh Day Adventist Church by convicted serial pedophile Harrison, who in 1994 was convicted for sexually abusing numerous children both at the Adventist Church and at the Oregon School for the Blind. The case was settled just before trial for an amount that is confidential.
Clackamas County Circuit Court dismissed a lawsuit against Lake Oswego School District that claimed that former teacher Judd Johnson sexually abused seven men – then elementary school students – between the late 60s and early 80s. Judge James Tait left the claims against Johnson pending.
In order for the men to win the case, they will have to convince the courts or possibly even the Legislature to change the statute of limitations on crimes involving public entities. The men appealed the ruling to the Oregon Court of Appeals on Jan. 7.
Originally three men filed suit in February, seeking $2 million each for emotional trauma and “permanent psychological damage” and $100,000 each for future therapy. Four more added their names to the list in April, bringing the total suit to $14.7 million.
Some of the men, who are now in their 40s and 50s, have remained friends over the years, and some of them have never met. All seven –anonymous in the lawsuit – allege abuse by Johnson over the course of his career that includes Bryant Elementary School, Forest Hills Elementary School and Lake Grove Elementary School. Typically, Johnson allegedly used the grooming process to fondle the boys’ genitals and buttocks.
The complaint alleges that an LOSD administrator knew about the abuse but had a practice of transferring Johnson around the district to cover it up.
The school district, represented by attorney David Ernst, disputes that the suit is valid because the Oregon Tort Claims Act establishes a 180-day notice period, subject to a 90-day extension. It contains a two-year statute of limitations.
According to the seven plaintiffs’ attorney Kelly Clark, “It is unreasonable up to the point of unconstitutional to expect a child abuse survivor to file suit before he consciously understands he has been injured.”
Clark, who has represented about 150 sexual abuse victims in suits against the Boy Scouts, Catholic Church, other churches and schools, said that there has been no challenge of the constitutionality of the two-year statute of limitations. Clark has concluded from his experience with child abuse cases that the law is unreasonable. Under Oregon law, private organizations such as churches are under different statutes of limitations than government bodies.
The original three victims were prompted to come forward when a series of articles on sexual abuse in schools ran in The Oregonian last February. They claim that realizing the importance of the abuse came to them in 2006 or 2007. The four others joined the suit after it was made public, also in February.
The youngest man in the suit said he told his mother in the early 1980s what had happened while he was a student at Lake Grove Elementary School. She supposedly contacted an administrator who told her that if she kept quiet about the abuse Johnson would be transferred. She refused and went to law enforcement with her complaint.
According to the lawsuit, one year prior to her son’s alleged abuse, Johnson had been discovered abusing a different young boy in a boat on Oswego Lake. The district allegedly knew about the incident but took no action. At that time, Johnson was not prosecuted because the boy did not want to testify.
In a separate incident, Johnson pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual abuse in Clackamas County and was sentenced to two years of probation and counseling. He resigned from the school district on Feb. 1, 1984 and the state revoked his teaching license.
Ernst argued that the youngest plaintiff did have constructive knowledge of his abuse in the 80s, so therefore the statute of limitations already started and expired. However, the complaint claims that the plaintiff had no knowledge of the alleged misconduct of the district until after last year.
According to court documents, Johnson denies every allegation since he does not know the identity of the plaintiffs.
Attorney Kelly Clark says the plaintiffs will continue to fight until they achieve justice.
A lawsuit has been filed against the Milo Adventist Academy over allegations that a woman who served as an assistant coach, instructor and choir leader at the Days Creek-area boarding school sexually abused a 15-year-old female student.
The suit, filed Thursday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, alleges that the woman groomed and sexually abused the girl in 2007 and 2008.
Neither the alleged victim nor the accused woman are named in the lawsuit, which seeks up to $100,000 in damages for past and future counseling and medical expenses and $3 million for psychological suffering and damage.
The suit essentially blames the academy for allowing the alleged abuse to occur, as well as for failing to properly investigate the woman’s background, then for retaining her even once information came to light that she had a history of inappropriate sexual misconduct with children in the past.
“We believe we can prove that there was information they could have learned that should have prevented them from bringing her on at all,” said Portland attorney Kelly Clark, who filed the suit along with Coos Bay attorney Bill McDaniel.
The Oregon Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists and the Western Oregon Conference and Southern Oregon Conference Associations of Seventh-day Adventists are also named as defendants in the lawsuit.
Herald Follett, general counsel for the Seventh-day Adventists Church in Oregon, said this morning he had not heard of the lawsuit and had no comment at this time. The academy’s principal, Randy Bovee, also declined to comment.
Clark, who regularly handles child sexual abuse cases including those against the Catholic Church and other organizations, said he believed the accused woman was some sort of part-time volunteer at the school.
The woman, who Clark said was in her early twenties, assisted with coaching, instructing and choir. The alleged victim was a member of choir and participated on several sports teams.
Clark said the teen’s parents ended up finding out about the alleged abuse, which was reported to the school. He said the parents did not press criminal charges.
He said he didn’t know if the woman was still working or volunteering with the school. The teen has since moved out of state with her family.
Clark called the case a “very sad story” and said the teen continues to suffer emotionally and spiritually.
Lawyers for the plaintiff say a fifteen-year old male who molested a seven-year old girl had an established history as a sex offender in another state.
(SALEM, Ore.) - Attorneys representing a 23-year old Oregon woman say she was subjected to multiple counts of sexual molestation and abuse as a 7-year old girl while attending the East Salem Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Kelly Clark of the Portland law firm O’Donnell & Clark LLP, says the offender at the time was a 15-year old boy who attended the same congregation.
Clark says the case is important, because it illustrates the need for churches to monitor and maintain people who are in a close proximity to children. Their law firm has been involved in a number of successful similar actions involving the Catholic Church that date back to 1999.
U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan Wednesday ordered the Archdiocese of Portland to release files of pedophile priests that the Archdiocese has been withholding. Pete Springer reports.
Over a year ago, the Archdiocese of Portland agreed to release files on pedophile priests as part of a $70 million bankruptcy settlement.
They did release some documents, but refused to release others, claiming they contained personal information about priests not involved in the lawsuit.
But after months of arbitration and reviewing the documents, Judge Hogan rejected that argument.
His ruling is binding and cannot be appealed.
An attorney who represented the priest sex abuse victims in the bankruptcy case was not available for comment but says in a media release that he plans to use a website to post the church documents so that “the public can understand the history of the problem”.
Attorneys for the victims are planning to discuss the ruling publicly on Friday.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge ordered the release of more documents from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland that may shed light on how church officials responded to allegations that priests sexually abused minors.
The order from U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan on Wednesday was a result of the settlement in 2007 of about 175 lawsuits for $50 million to end the first bankruptcy filing in the nation by a Catholic diocese.
After the settlement, victim advocates and church officials disagreed over how many documents to release.
Hogan’s order requires the archdiocese to release documents about allegations of sexual misconduct by priests involving minors and the knowledge of the archdiocese about the allegations, or its response to them.
He said the order doesn’t apply immediately in the cases of priests involved in a related dispute over disclosure or in pending litigation.
Hogan’s decision says names of victims have been redacted from the documents.
Portland lawyer Kelly Clark, who represented more than 40 victims, praised the decision and said it meant the archdiocese must release almost all of the disputed documents.
"This is a good day for survivors, and all the men and women abused as boys and girls by priests of this archdiocese can feel rightly proud that they have stood their ground and did not let the archdiocese back out of its commitments," Clark said.
He said a Web site is under construction that will organize the documents so readers can understand the history of cases and how church officials enabled or covered up abuse.
The archdiocese released a statement that said almost all of the misconduct occurred from 1940 to the mid-1980s.
"Today the Archdiocese of Portland has comprehensive child protection policies and programs," it said, including an Office of Child Protection and national programs to audit protections and ensure that people who work with minors are appropriately screened.
