| BishopAccountability.org
|
||
|
Jury Throws out Boys Town Abuse Lawsuit Eds: ADDs Attempt to Reach Plaintiff's Lawyer, Graf 8. May Be LED October 1, 2006 http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2006/09/30/news/nebraska/367f9410f897ee00862571f9000e9e30.txt Omaha, Neb. (AP) -- A Douglas County jury on Friday threw out a sexual abuse lawsuit against Girls and Boys Town and a former counselor there. The trial lasted two weeks, but jurors deliberated for little more than an hour before ruling against 23-year-old John Sturzenegger, who said he was sexually abused by Glenn Moore in 1997 while a 14-year-old resident at Boys Town. He had sought up to $1 million dollars in damages. Moore said Friday he was relieved to be vindicated. "I'm glad it came out the way it did," Moore said. "Finally, I can tell everyone, 'That's not me. That's not my family."' Moore no longer works at Boys Town. In his suit, Sturzenegger said Moore was a house supervisor. Sturzenegger said he was fondled and offered money to run around naked, expose himself and masturbate. During the trial, Sturzenegger told several variations of the story at trial, and several people testified that he was a liar and a manipulator. Sturzenegger's attorney, James Sherrets, did not immediately return a call Friday seeking comment. The facility was known as Boys Town until 2000, when it changed its name to Girls and Boys Town. Headquartered in Omaha, it has worked with troubled children since it was founded by the Rev. Edward J. Flanagan in 1917. Girls and Boys Town operates programs in 15 states. This marks the first trial arising from five sexual abuse lawsuits filed against the facility in recent years. Another is pending in federal court and the others were dropped or dismissed. While questioning potential jurors, Boys Town attorney James Martin Davis urged them to separate the facility from sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic church. Boys Town is nondenominational, Davis said, and only two priests work on campus. |
||
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution. |
||