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	Man Sues SSC, Claims He Was Sexually Abused As Youth By J.R. Welsh Sun Herald July 19, 2007 http://www.sunherald.com/201/story/101209.html Bay St. Louis — A Wyoming man has filed a federal lawsuit against St. Stanislaus College claiming he was repeatedly sexually abused by a staff member 24 years ago, leading to a lifetime of torment and drug abuse that still continues. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Gulfport last Friday by attorneys for Michael D. Stevenson and his father and co-plaintiff, O. Dara Stevenson. Michael Stevenson, 39, lives in Wyoming and his father is a Louisiana resident, according to court documents. The eight-count lawsuit claims Michael Stevenson attended the Catholic boys' school in 1983-84, beginning when he was 15. There, he was repeatedly sexually and mentally abused by a staff member who was in the religious order the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. A lawsuit represents only one side of a civil dispute. The suit seeks unspecified damages, but does say damages against each defendant are expected to amount to more than $75,000. Defendants include one of the brothers; the school, under the name St. Stanislaus College and various business names; Brothers of the Sacred Heart; and a list of unnamed "John Doe" defendants. They will be identified as their names are discovered, the suit said. The suit alleges the acts began when the brother first summoned Michael Stevenson to his office at the school and sexually abused him. Alleged acts included "masturbation, fellatio and sodomy" and continued throughout that school year "on multiple occasions," according to the suit. As a result, Stevenson allegedly eventually began using drugs and became addicted. He has suffered mental problems for many years and continues to occasionally relapse into drug use, according to the lawsuit. The school president, Brother Ronald Hingle, released a statement Wednesday expressing his regret that a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse has been filed against SSC. "St. Stanislaus College traces its origins to 1854, when the Brothers of the Sacred Heart arrived in Bay St. Louis in response to the need to teach the boys of the community. The Brothers built a school here in Mississippi and dedicated the good works that would take place under its roof to Saint Stanislaus Kostka, the patron saint of youth. Given this foundation, the sexual abuse of young people is directly contrary to the mission St. Stanislaus has strived to carry out for over 150 years," Hingle said in the release. "Along with the whole of the Church throughout the world, Saint Stanislaus College cannot and will not tolerate such abuse. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the alleged victim and his family as well as to all who have endured the pain of sexual abuse." Bay St. Louis — Following the alleged abuse, Stevenson developed a repressed memory of the events and his family spent hundreds of thousands on medical treatments and therapy. It was only after many years that his memory was revived through therapy in 2006, the suit claims. The U.S. District Court Clerk's Office confirmed Monday that the lawsuit had been filed by the Biloxi law firm of Lumpkin & Reeves. In a written statement released by his office, lawyer James Reeves said his investigation "indicates that this case falls into the same sad pattern of child abuse followed by a cover-up of which we are all too familiar." In the lawsuit itself, Reeves said school officials were aware of the brother's actions, but kept quiet and failed to take action: "Rather than report these to the minor's parents or appropriate law enforcement authorities, the defendants actively concealed the crimes and continued to expose vulnerable children to a known pedophile." St. Stanislaus, founded in 1854, is part of a network of schools operated in this region by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. It is not a part of the Diocese of Biloxi. WEB Statement from St. Stanislaus Following is the statement from Brother Ronald Hingle, president of St. Stanislaus College: "While we have not yet seen the complaint, it is with deep regret that we have learned that a civil lawsuit was filed against Saint Stanislaus College for allegations of sexual misconduct that occurred at the school in the early 1980s. "Saint Stanislaus College traces its origins to 1854, when the Brothers of the Sacred Heart arrived in Bay St. Louis in response to the need to teach the boys of the community. The Brothers built a school here in Mississippi and dedicated the good works that would take place under its roof to Saint Stanislaus Kostka, the patron saint of youth. Given this foundation, the sexual abuse of young people is directly contrary to the mission Saint Stanislaus has strived to carry out for over 150 years. Along with the whole of the Church throughout the world, Saint Stanislaus College cannot and will not tolerate such abuse. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the alleged victim and his family as well as to all who have endured the pain of sexual abuse."
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