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Stanley Rosenberg, Bryon Hefner Push to ID Sex Abuse Accuser

By Brian Dowling
Boston Herald
July 12, 2018

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2018/07/stanley_rosenberg_bryon_hefner_push_to_id_sex_abuse_accuser

IDENTITY QUESTION: Mitchell Garabedian, lawyer for the man suing ex-Senate President Stanley C. Rosenberg, argues yesterday in court. Staff photo by Nicolaus Czarnecki. Credit: Nicolaus Czarnecki

Ex-Senate President Stanley C. Rosenberg and his estranged husband, Bryon Hefner, want to “level the playing field” by publicly naming the John Doe suing them over sex abuse claims — a rare demand the alleged victim’s attorneys say could lead to disastrous ends.

“If his identity is out there, he may suffer irreparable harm,” said Mitchell Garabedian, the lawyer for Doe who accused Hefner of sexually assaulting the man twice in Rosenberg’s presence, and once at the couple’s North End condo.

Garabedian — who has represented more than 1,000 sex abuse victims — told Suffolk Superior Court Judge Robert N. Tochka that, for some victims, going to the courts for justice opened long-healed wounds and proved too much.

“Some — during proceedings, during the action, during the settlement program — commit suicide,” Garabedian said. “It’s a real concern.”

Rosenberg’s lawyer Michael Pineault argued to reject the Doe pseudonym and have him refile court papers with the name of the early-20s Beacon Hill aide accusing his client and Hefner.

“We are prejudiced because the playing field is not level as long as the plaintiff can proceed anonymously,” Pineault said, arguing that if the name were public the media could explore the alleged victim’s background and potential motives for filing the suit.

Pineault compared the use of a pseudonym in the lawsuit to anonymous online commenters freed from any repercussion from their words.

“Having to stand behind your allegations publicly, behind your name, promotes accountability and credibility and truthfulness,” he said.

Pineault also argued that a page-and-a-half letter from a psychiatrist who evaluated Doe for 45 minutes failed to show enough detail to back up his conclusion that revealing the name would cause serious harm.

In April, a grand jury indicted Hefner on 10 counts connected to assault claims — two months before Doe filed his civil lawsuit against Hefner and Rosenberg under a preliminary court order keeping his name out of public view.

Garabedian declined to confirm whether his client is one of the four alleged victims in the criminal case. His associate, William Gordon, told the court their client is in his early 20s and at the time was an aide in the House of Representatives.

Last week, Pineault and Hefner’s lawyer,Tracy Miner, filed arguments to have the name revealed publicly. Garabedian said in all the year’s he’s represented victims, never has a defendant pressed a claim to have the person named publicly. The judge took the matter under advisement after yesterday’s arguments.

Arguing that Doe should be allowed to remain known under the pseudonym, Gordon cited a 2002 decision by then-Suffolk Superior Court Judge Ralph D. Gants — the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court — upholding impoundment of the names of plaintiffs in five cases from the ’90s.

Gordon quoted from the decision: “For many victims of sexual abuse, especially child sexual abuse, public revelation of the abuse, if not sought by them, victimizes them yet again.”

 

 

 

 

 




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