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	Court Rejects Retrial in Sex Abuse Suit against Priest By Mark Brown Chicago Sun-Times May 8, 1996 The Illinois Appellate Court refused Tuesday to grant a new trial for a boy who lost a lawsuit in which he accused a Northbrook priest of sexually abusing him at age 7. The justices found that a lower court was correct in refusing to reopen the case against the Rev. Robert J. Lutz based on allegations from a woman who came forward after the trial to say that he had molested her, too. Lutz, pastor of St. Norbert's Parish, was exonerated by a jury in 1994 after a civil trial in which lawyers for the boy contended Lutz molested him between 1986 and 1988 while he was attending the parish school. The woman, identified only as L.P., told the boy's lawyer that she had been sexually abused by Lutz in 1955 when she was in eighth grade, according to court records. In an affidavit, the woman said Lutz forced her to fondle him while speaking with her in his office. The appellate court held that her testimony would not have been admissible at trial because her accusations differed significantly from those made by the boy, who was identified in court records as Richard Doe. While Richard accused Lutz of threatening physical violence and using abusive language, L.P. did not, the justices noted. Also, L.P. was much older than Richard when the alleged incidents occurred, the court said. On similar grounds, the appellate court upheld decisions by the trial judge to refuse to allow testimony from another boy who claimed Lutz sexually assaulted him in school bathrooms on three occasions and from a former female principal at another school who alleged Lutz had sexually harassed her. "Evidence of prior bad acts is not admissible to show a defendant's character or propensity to commit the alleged crime," Justice Gino DiVito wrote. Lutz's attorney, Arlene Erlebacher, could not be reached for comment. Richard's lawyer, Sherman Magidson, wouldn't comment.
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