The Monterey Herald has uncovered evidence showing that the Christian Brothers appear to have transferred assets between corporations in an effort to shield them away from survivors of child sexual abuse. You can read the full article here, including Seattle sexual abuse attorney Mike Pfau’s perspective on the timing and what it means for creditors in the Christian Brothers bankruptcy.
A New York bankruptcy court has issued firm deadlines for people to file claims against the Christian Brothers. Sexual abuse survivors must file a claim by August 1, 2012. All other claims, including claims for physical abuse, must be filed by May 11, 2012. People who fail to file a claim by the appropriate deadline may be forever barred from suing the Christian Brothers.
You can read more about our nearly decade-long fight against the Christian Brothers, including some of the damaging evidence we have gathered over time. We have also created a separate website about the bankruptcy process, including the deadlines for filing a claim against the Christian Brothers.
The State of Washington will pay a former Mason County woman $2.35 million to settle a lawsuit brought against the Department of Corrections and the Department of Social and Health Services for the State’s failure to protect her from a dangerous sexual predator. Danny Dorosky, Sr., was a convicted child rapist on parole in the fall of 1990 when he began sexually assaulting the victim, who was only 10-years-old at the time.
Corrections officers responsible for monitoring Dorosky while on parole misclassified the 30-year career-criminal as a low-risk offender despite an order from the Parole Board requiring intensive management and supervision because of Dorosky’s prior sex crimes. The Parole Board directed the DOC to conduct regular polygraph examinations to make sure he was not having contact with children. Despite the directive, the DOC never supervised Dorosky and never enforced a single parole condition imposed by the Parole Board.
Left unmonitored, Dorosky ingratiated himself into the victim’s family and eventually moved into her home, where he continuously abused the victim for almost three years.
DSHS’s involvement in the suit stemmed from a report made by school officials to Child Protective Services on the young girl’s behalf suspecting abuse. CPS learned over the course of its investigation that Dorosky was a convicted sex offender living with the girl’s family and that he was suspected of both physically abusing and sexually exploiting the child. However, CPS failed to remove the girl from the abusive environment, never made contact with Dorosky’s parole officers, and simply closed the complaint.
In the summer of 1993, the victim’s father contacted local law enforcement about Dorosky after a visit from his daughter in California. Mason County officials eventually arrested Dorosky, and he was later convicted of child molestation and rape. Dorosky died in 2004.
About two years ago, the victim began looking for answers after her own daughter turned 10-years old. She asked a local law firm that specializes in child abuse cases to help her, not knowing what they would discover. After numerous public records requests, her attorneys realized the State’s agencies did nothing to protect her. According to one of her attorneys, Jason P. Amala, “We told her we would help her find out how it happened, but we had no idea what we would find. It wasn’t until the State said it had no more records on him that we realized it had no records because it did nothing to enforce this sex offender’s parole conditions.” The woman filed suit shortly thereafter, and Dorosky’s parole officer eventually admitted she did nothing to supervise him.
The settlement comes at a time that Attorney General Rob McKenna is touting legislation to immunize the state from liability. Darrell L. Cochran, a Tacoma attorney who represented the woman with Amala, testified against McKenna’s proposals in Olympia this morning. “Our client was raped for almost three years because the state didn’t do its job. The budget is a concern for everyone, but denying justice to people who endure a lifetime of suffering is not the answer. Our communities and children will not be safe if the agencies charged with protecting us are given immunity for not doing their job.”
The Olympian - State worker gets $2.35 million in settlement over child sex abuse
KOMO TV – State to pay $2.35M in abuse case settlement (VIDEO)
WSOC TV – WA to pay $2.35M in abuse case settlement
(1) All claims or causes of action based on intentional conduct brought by any person for recovery of damages for injury suffered as a result of childhood sexual abuse shall be commenced within the later of the following periods:
(a) Within three years of the act alleged to have caused the injury or condition;
(b) Within three years of the time the victim discovered or reasonably should have discovered that the injury or condition was caused by said act; or
(c) Within three years of the time the victim discovered that the act caused the injury for which the claim is brought:
PROVIDED, That the time limit for commencement of an action under this section is tolled for a child until the child reaches the age of eighteen years.
(2) The victim need not establish which act in a series of continuing sexual abuse or exploitation incidents caused the injury complained of, but may compute the date of discovery from the date of discovery of the last act by the same perpetrator which is part of a common scheme or plan of sexual abuse or exploitation.
(3) The knowledge of a custodial parent or guardian shall not be imputed to a person under the age of eighteen years.
(4) For purposes of this section, “child” means a person under the age of eighteen years.
(5) As used in this section, “childhood sexual abuse” means any act committed by the defendant against a complainant who was less than eighteen years of age at the time of the act and which act would have been a violation of chapter 9A.44 RCW or RCW 9.68A.040 or prior laws of similar effect at the time the act was committed.
“The legislature finds that:
(1) Childhood sexual abuse is a pervasive problem that affects the safety and well-being of many of our citizens.
(2) Childhood sexual abuse is a traumatic experience for the victim causing long-lasting damage.
(3) The victim of childhood sexual abuse may repress the memory of the abuse or be unable to connect the abuse to any injury until after the statute of limitations has run.
(4) The victim of childhood sexual abuse may be unable to understand or make the connection between childhood sexual abuse and emotional harm or damage until many years after the abuse occurs.
(5) Even though victims may be aware of injuries related to the childhood sexual abuse, more serious injuries may be discovered many years later.
(6) The legislature enacted RCW 4.16.340 to clarify the application of the discovery rule to childhood sexual abuse cases. At that time the legislature intended to reverse the Washington supreme court decision in Tyson v. Tyson, 107 Wn.2d 72, 727 P.2d 226 (1986).
It is still the legislature’s intention that Tyson v. Tyson, 107 Wn.2d 72, 727 P.2d 226 (1986) be reversed, as well as the line of cases that state that discovery of any injury whatsoever caused by an act of childhood sexual abuse commences the statute of limitations. The legislature intends that the earlier discovery of less serious injuries should not affect the statute of limitations for injuries that are discovered later.”
The (Tacoma) News Tribune’s Adam Lynn is reporting that the King County Prosecutor’s office has charged 25 year-old Luis A. Rodriguez of Lacey, a former youth program director at the YMCA in Puyallup with one count of second-degree child molestation, one count of third-degree child molestation and one count of third-degree child rape. According to the report, Rodriguez was also an assistant coach for Puyallup’s Cascade Christian High School football team and a volunteer at Champions Centre church in Tacoma.
Court records indicate that much of the alleged abuse happened at a house on church grounds and at Rodriguez’s Federal Way home.
If you have been the victim of sexual abuse, you are not alone. The attorneys at Pfau Cochran Vertetis and Amala have helped many survivors obtain the counseling, justice, and closure they deserve.
To learn more, give us a call at (253)777-0798 or (253)203-6747.
A parent of a youngster formerly enrolled at the now-defunct Olympia Early Learning Center has sued the child care facility, alleging that a former assistant teacher molested her son, according to the suit.
The former assistant teacher at the Olympia Early Learning Center’s McPhee Road site, Elisha Tabor, 20, was sentenced in July to 18 years to life in prison for raping a 5-year-old pupil in the child’s home and a 4-year-old pupil at work.
The civil lawsuit filed Thursday alleges that a boy was molested by Tabor while he was between the ages of 2 months and 4 years old while enrolled at the Olympia Early Learning Center’s McPhee Road site between 2007 and 2010, attorney Darrell Cochran said.
Cochran said that the boy identified in his lawsuit filed in Thurston County Superior Court on Thursday is not one of the children that Tabor was convicted of molesting or raping.
For more on this story, see Saturday’s Olympian.
Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/09/02/1784068/more-suits-emerge-from-olympia.html#ixzz1WpsDVCZw
From the Olympian:
OLYMPIA – The Olympia Early Learning Center’s downtown branch on Capitol Way will close July 29, according to a spokeswoman from the state Department of Early Learning.
The closure is “self-initiated,” she said. Officials at the center could not be reached for comment Thursday. The center closed a second site, on McPhee Road, in mid-April. The Department of Early Learning is investigating a complaint in January that the center failed to report an abuse allegation at that site. In February, the department put the site on its do-not-refer list, and its license is inactive.
In early July, a judge in Olympia sentenced a former assistant teacher at the McPhee Road site to 18 years to life in prison for raping a 5-year-old at the pupil’s home and molesting a 4-year-old pupil at work.
Elisha Tabor, 20, had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree child rape and two counts of first-degree child molestation. He had worked at the McPhee Road site from May 2008 to January 2011 when the allegations came to light.
Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/07/14/1724781/olympia-early-learning-center.html#ixzz1SCaf6Sjj
Tacoma Attorney Darrell Cochran is representing the families of children molested at OELC. If you have any information, please contact us today.
The man accused of molesting attorney Darrell Cochran’s client pleaded guilty today in criminal court. If you know someone who has suffered abuse while at school or church, or by someone who was protected by an institution, contact us for a free consultation with an attorney.
Here is a link to the Olympian’s story today: The Olympian: Former learning center employee pleads guilty to child rape
Over the past eight years, our sexual abuse attorneys have settled more cases against the Congregation of Christian Brothers than anyone else in the United States. During that time we have gathered an extensive amount of evidence regarding their sexual abuse of children in both the United States and around the world, going back to the 1940s.
Sexual Abuse Lawsuits Force Christian Brothers to Declare Bankruptcy
(New York) – The Congregation of Christian Brothers, a Catholic religious order, has filed for bankruptcy protection over allegations that its members sexually abused scores of children in the United States and Canada. Last year, the Congregation of Christian Brothers came under fire over a report by the government of Ireland that its members sexually abused thousands of children in that country.
Although the Christian Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection in New York, under the name of the Christian Brothers Institute, the majority of the active lawsuits were filed over allegations of sexual abuse at schools and orphanages the Brothers owned and operated in Washington state and Canada.
Seattle sexual abuse attorney Michael Pfau, who filed ten of the active claims in Washington state and has settled more than 50 others against the Christian Brothers in the past eight years, claims the Brothers filed for bankruptcy in an effort to shield their assets in Rome. “Ever since they came to the United States the Christian Brothers have accumulated money and assets for their headquarters in Ireland and then Rome. It is a worldwide organization that doesn’t want to be held responsible, either legally or financially, for what it knew its members were doing to children in the United States and Canada.”
At one point, the North American Province owned or operated more than a dozen orphanages and schools around the United States and in Canada. Currently, its Brothers staff schools across the United States, including Brother Rice High School in Chicago, O’Dea High School in Seattle, and Damien Memorial School in Hawaii.
According to Pfau, it is unclear how many victims may come forward as a result of the bankruptcy filing. “The Christian Brothers came to New York at the turn of the last century and they slowly moved West. They operated schools in many states, including New York, Chicago, Montana, Washington, California, and Hawaii. Given the severity of sexual abuse we have seen in their internal documents, and their cover-up of that abuse, it is difficult to imagine how many children were likely abused at their schools.”
The Christian Brothers are the second Catholic religious order to declare bankruptcy in the last two years over claims that its members sexually abused children. Just last month, the Oregon Province of the Jesuits announced it had settled the claims of more than 450 victims who came forward after it filed for bankruptcy in 2009.
According to Pfau, who represents nearly 150 victims in the Jesuit bankruptcy, the two bankruptcies are similar because both orders are alleged to have frequently sent abusers to places where they could molest orphans or children from broken homes. “This Christian Brothers organization has caused irreparable damage to a staggering number of children who were entrusted in their care. They made money taking over the care of children, but put many of their members who were known abusers in charge of them. Nobody else was there to protect them. The results were predictable and horrific, and then they tried to cover it up. This bankruptcy is just another effort for them to avoid responsibility for this tragedy.”
Pfau acknowledges the bankruptcy will lead to closure for abuse victims, but fears the Christian Brothers may try to use it to hide the full story of their alleged abuses. “The bankruptcy should be beneficial to victims in terms of providing some amount of closure, but it is frustrating to the extent it will allow the Christian Brothers to further conceal a century-worth of wrongdoing.”
More than Fifty Claims in Washington State Alone
In the past eight years, the Christian Brothers have faced more than fifty cases in Washington state over allegations of sexual abuse at schools they jointly operated with the Seattle Archdiocese.
The parents of a 6-year-old girl who allegedly was molested by a former Olympia School District bus driver sued the district Tuesday.
The lawsuit filed by Tacoma attorney Darrell Cochran alleges that the district “breached its duty and was negligent in the supervision and the protection over its students during school hours.”
Gary Shafer, 32, of Port Orchard, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree child molestation for allegedly sexually assaulting two girls on a bus in December, while acting as a helper on a route for Centennial Middle School. Shafer was being held Tuesday at the Thurston County Jail with bail set at $50,000.
The district “failed to keep students safe” by allowing Shafer “to have unfettered access to young, vulnerable children as he rode on a school bus in no official capacity other than as a self-appointed helper,” the lawsuit states. It also alleges that school district employees “observed episodes of inappropriate behavior towards (the girl) but failed to take appropriate action.”
Olympia School District spokesman Peter Rex could not be reached for comment. Rex has said in prior interviews that he cannot comment on pending litigation.
Shafer had worked for the school district since October 2005 and had driven several routes. He was placed on administrative leave during the first week of January, when the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office contacted the district about the allegations. Shafer resigned Jan. 19.
Shafer’s most recent bus assignment was route 41, which serves Reeves Middle and Hansen Elementary schools. Last week, Cochran filed a separate lawsuit alleging that the district is violating the Public Records Act by witholding documents related to its investigation of Shafer.
Cochran said he is still waiting for the documents, adding that he wants to know more about Shafer’s role as a helper when the alleged molestation occurred. As a helper, Shafer was supposed to be learning the route to act as a substitute for the Centennial Middle School driver.
Cochran said he wants to know what the driver saw and whether he tried to stop Shafer from letting children sit on his lap.
The driver “has got some explaining to do,” Cochran said.
In a tort claim notice, Cochran stated that he intends to ask the district to pay his clients $2.25 million, but the lawsuit filed Tuesday does not name a specific figure.
Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5465 jpawloski@theolympian.com
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