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	Schauer Says He Was 10 When Buzanowski Molested Him at School By Andy Nelesen Green Bay Press Gazette July 27, 2005 David Schauer sat silently in the witness chair and watched the second hand of his watch sweep 360 degrees. It marked off one minute — the span of time that a former priest and school counselor is accused of fondling Schauer during one episode in 1988. He said it seemed like an eternity then. It felt no shorter now. Donald Buzanowski, 62, is accused of molesting Schauer on two other occasions, while Schauer was a fifth-grader at Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic School in Green Bay. Buzanowski's trial on charges of first-degree sexual assault of a child under age 13 began Tuesday in Brown County Circuit Court. A jury of six men and six women will decide the case. Buzanowski's lawyer, Owen Monfils, had asked Schauer to mark off one minute, in an effort to demonstrate the duration of one of the alleged attacks. Monfils questioned why Schauer didn't protest and questioned Schauer about how the incident occurred. Schauer, now 27, testified that he had been pulled out of class and sent to see Buzanowski for a counseling session to sort out problems with other kids picking on him. Schauer said that when the session wrapped up, as he tried to leave the room, Buzanowski grabbed his arm, drew him over his lap and began fondling him. As Buzanowski groped Schauer with his left hand, he spanked the boy with his right hand. Buzanowski's hand struck three times, Schauer testified, each spank ending with a squeeze. In all, Buzanowski is accused of touching Schauer on three separate occasions. Two included fondling over the clothes and one involved a kiss on the lips, Schauer testified. There were also three sessions without any inappropriate behavior, Schauer said. Schauer testified all three incidents began and ended the same way. Buzanowski would send a note to Schauer's teacher and ask that the 10-year-old be sent to the nurse's office, where Buzanowski used to meet with students. Each encounter would end with Buzanowski escorting Schauer to the door and parting with the words: "This is just between you and me," Schauer said. After each attack, Schauer said he left the room upset, but headed back to class and never showed his teacher any signs of distress. "I was … numb would be the best way to describe the way I was feeling," Schauer testified. "Stunned. Shocked. Emotionless." When questioned about why he didn't come forward immediately after each of the alleged incidents, Schauer said he was embarrassed and scared. He began acting out at home. "I wanted people to know what was going on, but I didn't know how to tell them," Schauer testified. Schauer didn't report the incidents until 1990, after his mother found writings about Buzanowski in Schauer's journal and took the documents to his counselor. The authorities were notified a short time later. Charges were initially not filed because prosecutors believed there was not enough evidence to bring the case to trial. After a clarification in the state's statutes of limitation and after a second person made allegations about Buzanowski, prosecutors revisited the case. When Schauer was able to provide additional details about the incidents, prosecutors decided to move forward with prosecution. The Green Bay Press-Gazette does not normally identify alleged victims in sexual assault cases. Schauer — who also has a civil lawsuit pending against Buzanowski — has given permission to be identified for this report. Schauer testified for about two hours Tuesday afternoon. He was the first witness of the prosecution's case. Schauer described Buzanowski's demeanor as calm during each episode, but added that Buzanowski had what could be best described as a "look of desire." Schauer said he remembered, as a child, describing the look to a therapist as "he looked at me the way someone who was really hungry would look at a pepperoni pizza." During several visits to see Buzanowski, Schauer said, he took other students along, in hopes that there was safety in numbers. Buzanowski ushered the other boys out of the room before molesting Schauer on one occasion, according to the testimony Tuesday. Monfils questioned why Schauer took friends, asking why he would put his friends in harm's way if they ended up alone with Buzanowski. "I didn't want anyone to know what happened to me," Schauer said. When Monfils asked if Schauer warned any of his friends about Buzanowski, Schauer countered with: "I didn't want anyone to know what happened to me. I wasn't thinking about anyone but myself at that point." Judy Schauer, David's mother, testified that she noticed a significant change in David's behavior the year he started fifth grade. She initially thought counseling with Buzanowski might help her son sort out some issues. But as the year wore on, she said her son became more agitated and angry. When she talked with Buzanowski about what David Schauer was saying during their sessions, Buzanowski refused to discuss the conversations. Buzanowski "felt what he and David talked about needed to stay between them and he wasn't going to talk about it," Judy Schauer testified. It was after that conversation, Schauer testified, that she ended her son's sessions with Buzanowski and enlisted the help of counselors outside the school. In January 1990, Schauer read a page out of her son's journal — "My life has been ruined by a so-called person, Father Don." — which led her to suspect something had happened with Buzanowski. The allegations of abuse became public a short time later. Buzanowski stopped acting in the role of priest in May 1989 when he requested and was granted a one-year leave of absence from the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, according to a timeline provided by the diocese. Buzanowski was denied a request for another leave of absence in 1990. He did not return to the priesthood and was officially suspended from the priesthood in July 1990, according to the diocese. In January 1992, Buzanowski tendered his resignation from the priesthood, but he was not officially defrocked until officials at the Vatican took action in March 2005. Buzanowski remains in the Brown County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. His trial resumes today. If convicted on both counts, Buzanowski faces up to 40 years in prison.