Priest Abuse Lawsuit Settled, by Jim Salter, KTVI, October 19, 2007

Priest Abuse Lawsuit Settled

By Jim Salter
KTVI
October 19, 2007

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A St. Louis County man who said he was sexually abused by a Vianney High School principal in the mid-1980s has settled a lawsuit with the Roman Catholic religious order that operates the school.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, announced the settlement Friday. Bryan Bacon, 37, of Kirkwood, will receive $160,000 from the Marianist Province of the United States, based in St. Louis.

The lawsuit is among several alleging wrongdoing by William Mueller, an ex-cleric who worked at several Catholic schools, including Vianney and two others in the St. Louis area.

Mueller, 71, now lives in San Antonio. A telephone listing for him could not be found. Calls to his attorney's office went unanswered.

"We hope this settlement helps to bring some healing to Bryan and his family," said Diane Guerra, spokeswoman for the Marianists.

SNAP said Mueller has been accused in lawsuits of abusing dozens of boys in three states -- Texas, Colorado and Missouri. Guerra said she was unaware of any cases in Texas.

In many of the lawsuits, the ex-cleric is accused of knocking boys out with drugs, then molesting them while they were unconscious.

"He is one of the more notorious," said Barbara Dorris of SNAP. "With the number of victims, you have to wonder how much the Marianists knew or should have known about this guy."

Bacon said in the suit he was abused in October 1985, when he was a 15-year-old sophomore at Vianney. Mueller was the school's assistant principal and dean of students. Claiming repressed memory, Bacon didn't file suit until 2005.

The suit claimed Mueller asked Bacon to come to his office to help with a secret experiment toward earning a master's degree. With the door closed and locked, Bacon said Mueller blindfolded him, pulled him close and began putting his mouth on Bacon's ear. Bacon said he then felt a long, sharp object against his throat -- perhaps a butcher knife.

At that point, Bacon told Mueller he was frightened. He said that appeared to arouse Mueller, who allegedly began simulating intercourse while pressing the knife closer to Bacon's throat.

Guerra said school officials confronted Mueller when they discovered he was performing "psychological experiments" on students and told him to stop. Mueller was forced to attend counseling twice and promised to stop the behavior, Guerra said.

She said no one accused Mueller of molestation before he voluntarily left the Marianist order in 1986.

The Society of Mary, or Marianists, is an international religious order of brothers and priests founded in 1817. In the U.S., the order sponsors colleges, high schools, parishes and retreat centers.