Boston Sexual Abuse Lawyer Blog

Mass Kids Gets $80K Child Sexual Abuse Grant

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:12:50 -0500

Massachusetts Citizens for Children, also known as Mass Kids, a Boston-based nonprofit that advocates for the welfare of children, announced that it recently received an $80,000 grant from the Ms. Foundation for Women to fund a campaign that aims to end child sexual abuse.

Massachusetts Citizens for Children (MCC) is the lead agency for the Enough Abuse Campaign, an effort that helps communities build local coalitions to prevent child sexual abuse and provides tools and training to educate parents, youth, and a wide range of professionals about prevention strategies.

MCC Executive Director Jetta Bernier said, "This latest grant will help the campaign move closer to its goal, that by 2015 every city and town in Massachusetts will be actively engaged in preventing child sexual abuse in their homes and communities."

The campaign, which launched in 2002, operates in Gloucester/Cape Ann, Orange/Athol, Newton/Waltham, Greater Springfield, Lowell, and in several western Massachusetts rural communities. MCC is looking to establish the campaign on Cape Cod and in Worcester County.

Betta noted that following the recent Penn State child sex abuse scandal, which focused on child abuse allegations against a former assistant football coach dating back to the 1990s, many youth-serving organizations are eager to improve their policies around recruitment, hiring, and supervision and offer training about child sexual abuse prevention for staff and volunteers.

Small to mid-size organizations, however, report they lack the resources and expertise that national organizations do to address the issue, she said.

"The Ms. Foundation grant will help the campaign develop a cadre of consultants and trainers who can assist these organizations improve their capacity to keep children safe from sexual abuse in those settings," according to Betta.

The Ms. Foundations has called the Enough Abuse Campaign "an effort that breaks the mold on child sexual abuse in many ways. It goes beyond a limited set of trainings to foster the building of real and lasting relationships among diverse stakeholders. Its emphasis on community collaboration truly sets it apart from previous efforts."

An assessment of more than 3,000 parents and professionals who participated in community and state-level trainings, conducted by MCC, found that:

95% said the trainings helped them identify problem or abusive behaviors in adults
94% learned how to asses unhealthy sexual behaviors in children and to respond in appropriate and non-shaming ways to address them
95% learned where to go or who to talk to if they suspect someone is sexual abusing
98% would recommend the training to others

New abuse list includes priest who served in Fairhaven

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 22:53:46 -0500

The Associated Press reports that a lawyer for clergy sex abuse victims released six new names of clerics accused of abuse, saying that it shows that a crisis that began a decade ago is far from over. One of the priests is the Rev. James Nickel, a Sacred Heart priest who worked in Fairhaven and Cape Cod parishes in the Fall River diocese.

One of the men, who served in New Jersey, is alive. The other five, who served in various Northeast states, are dead, including two who were priests in the Boston Archdiocese.

One of the Boston priests, the Rev. James Lane, reported the notorious abuser John Geoghan to church leaders during the 1980s.

At a news conference, Attorney Mitchell Garabedian singled out the Boston Archdiocese for not disclosing its names first.

"We're doing their work for them by exposing these priests so children can be made safer and victims can heal," Garabedian said.

Terry Donilon, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said Lane and the Rev. Rickard O'Donovan will be added to its list of priests who've been accused of child sex abuse, which was posted online in August.

But Donilon told the AP that the archdiocese was unable to substantiate the accusations against Lane and O'Donovan because they died before the accusations surfaced.

"Every effort is made to fully investigate such claims, but without the ability to question the accused priest, the investigation is limited," he said.

He added the archdiocese will "continue to provide support to survivors and all people who have suffered as a result of clergy sexual abuse."

The clergy sex abuse crisis started in 2002 in Boston and eventually went global after The Boston Globe published stories showing church officials shifted pedophile priests between parishes while keeping quiet about their crimes.

In Garabedian's updated list, the three other deceased clerics who worked in Massachusetts were: Nickel; Brother Peter-Claver, of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart order, who worked at schools in Sharon and Andover, as well as schools in Rhode Island and New Hampshire; and the Rev. Leonard Walsh, a Franciscan who worked in Brookline after postings in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.

The living cleric is the Rev. Augustus Scott. He was a priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual working in the Camden, N.J., diocese during the time the abuse is alleged to have occurred between 1969 and 1970. Garabedian said Scott fondled his 16-year-old client several times in Scott's car. He said Scott now lives in North Carolina.

The AP's attempt to reach Scott by searching phone listings was unsuccessful. A spokesman for the Camden diocese said Scott is not an active priest and he doesn't know where he is.

Alleged Stockbridge child sexual abuse known in 2004

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 23:53:45 -0500

The Berkshire Eagle reports that the man accused of sexually assaulting three elementary students while working as an adjustment counselor at the former Stockbridge Plain School was investigated in 2004 for allegedly inappropriately touching two of those students, though criminal charges weren't filed at the time.

In June 2004, two 10-year-old students told investigators that Scott Muir of Church Street, Stockbridge, had touched or fondled them inappropriately on several occasions. These claims were investigated by Massachusetts State Police Berkshire Detective Unit and the local office of the Department of Children and Families, according to Berkshire District Attorney David F. Capeless.

The Eagle reports that in a statement, Capeless said the investigation centered on "several" students, but "the information obtained at that time did not warrant the filing of criminal charges against Muir."

A third former student came forward in March of this year, accusing Muir of pulling her out of class as many as two times a week and bringing her to his office and raping her while she was in the first, second and third grades. These alleged incident occurred in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Following an interview with the alleged victim, who is now 16, police brought in the two other students for follow-up interviews. During those conversations, the students said Muir would take them out of class and bring them to his office in 2003 and 2004. While in his office with the door closed, they claim, Muir fondled them on multiple occasions. One of the students alleged Muir raped her.

Muir, 36, was arraigned last week on four counts of rape of a child with force, six counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 and one count of attempt to commit a crime -- indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. He was released on $10,000 cash bail and is due back in court on May 3.

Muir is a captain of the fire department, the town emergency management director, facilities manager for the Town Offices and a member of the Board of Health.

Former Boston doc gets 21 years for Alaska plan to have sex with boy

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:58:40 -0500

A former Boston research physician is beginning a 21-year federal prison sentence for traveling to Alaska with a plan to have sex with a 5-year-old boy, federal law enforcement officials announced today.

John Mark Felton, 48, was sentenced Friday in Alaska. A citizen of the United Kingdom, Felton may pursue transfer to a UK prison pursuant to a treaty between the United States and United Kingdom, officials said.

Felton's arrest came after an investigation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations directorate, ICE said today in a statement.

Felton traveled to Alaska, believing that he had arranged with a man over the Internet to have sex with the man's grandson. The "grandfather" was actually a Homeland Security Investigations agent, ICE said.

Felton also agreed to pay $20,000 to an Alaska non-profit that deals with child sex abuse victims and $5,000 to the victim depicted in a series of child exploitation photos that he had collected.

Former Medford MA pastor accused of sexual abuse

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:20:17 -0500

The Medford Transcript reports that the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts has stripped a retired Medford pastor of his priesthood after investigating allegations that he sexually abused women during his time as rector.

Robert M. Durkee, now 85 years old, served as pastor of Grace Episcopal Church on High Street from 1964 to 1989.

In January, the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts received a complaint against the former rector, alleging that he engaged in sexual misconduct with a woman in 1980.

"It's my understanding that two additional, possible victims came forward just within the last day or two," said Tracy Sukraw, director of communications for the Diocese.

After receiving the complaint in January, the church suspended Durkee from any and all priestly duties on Feb. 3. He was officially removed from the priesthood on March 27.

Church procedures call for the diocese to report such allegations to local authorities. Medford police are now investigating the allegations, the Transcript reported.

"Everything is very much in the initial stages," Police Chief Leo A. Sacco told the local paper, of the investigation.

Detective Patricia Sullivan of the Medford Police Department is investigating the case. She has 20 years of experience investigating domestic assault and sexual violence cases.

"For those who knew him [Durkee], it was very hard news and emotions, as you can imagine, were all over the place," said Grace Episcopal Church Pastor Rev. Noah Evans.

Evans said less than 20 percent of the Grace Church community today knew Durkee as their pastor.

Ettlinger released to face federal child porn charges in the Bayou

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:26:06 -0500

David Ettlinger, a former Newton teacher and Brighton resident facing a slew of child pornography charges in two Massachusetts counties was released on his personal recognizance at Suffolk Superior Court April 3, according to Wicked Local Newton and WCVB. The move allows the court to transport Ettlinger to Louisiana, where he faces federal charges for participating in an online child pornography forum.

Ettlinger, 34, was scheduled to appear at Moakley Courthouse in Boston Tuesday afternoon and then to be taken to Louisiana, where he faces charged for his alleged membership in Dreamboard, an international forum that promoted sexual abuse of children.

Ettlinger was arrested at his Commonwealth Avenue home in January following an investigation, and charged with two counts of possession of child pornography. Prosecutors said they found hundreds of images of child pornography on his computer.

Ettlinger was later additionally charged with indecent assault on a person under 14 and posing a child in the nude.

Prosecutors said the victim was a family friend he was babysitting.

Ettinger was indicted in Middlesex Superior Court in February for charges of five counts of aggravated indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, posing a child in a state of nudity, posing a child in sexual conduct, possession of child pornography, and secretly recording a partially nude person.

He was arraigned Feb. 8 and ordered held on $50,000 cash bail.

Wicked Local Newton reports that later that month, prosecutors discovered inappropriate photos of Ettlinger's former students at Underwood Elementary School in Newton. The photos were taken secretly but were not pornographic, and therefore not criminal.

Ettlinger was arraigned at Suffolk Superior Court on March 1 on additional charges. Prosecutors said on two unrelated occasions in 2009, he undressed and taped himself fondling two teenage girls as they slept.

He is schedulted to go on trial at Suffolk Superior Court in Dec. 2012. He will go on trial at Middlesex Superior Court in February 2013.

Former Mass Resident Convicted in Virginia of Abuse

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:31:31 -0500

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that a registered sex offender was convicted in late March of sexually abusing two young children over three months, authorities said.

Charles Howe Sr., 64, who was convicted in 1983 in Massachusetts of indecent assault and battery of a minor, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Colonial Heights Circuit Court to two felony counts of aggravated sexual battery of two children.

Under terms of a plea agreement, Howe was sentenced to a total of 40 years in prison, with all but three years suspended.

After his release, Howe will be committed civilly for at least one year. Prosecutors may seek to have him committed for a longer period under the Virginia Sexually Violent Predator Civil Commitment Act, said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Elizabeth Fields.

"Due to the severe emotional trauma caused to the children by this abuse, the commonwealth entered into a plea agreement with the defendant," Fields said. "This was to prevent further trauma to the children and to ensure that the defendant was convicted of aggravated sexual abuse, a violent sex-offender registry crime."

The Times Dispatch reported that between Dec. 1, 2010, and April 9, 2011, Howe repeatedly sexually abused the children and the children told their grandmother and parents about the extensive abuse. But the adults kept the abuse quiet and failed to report it to authorities.

The abuse was eventually reported to police by someone outside the victims' home who learned about it, Fields said.

The children's grandmother and father pleaded guilty to one count each of child neglect and abuse, and both were sentenced to 12 months in jail with nine months suspended. The mother's case is pending.

Local Playwright Performs Play About Childhood Abuse

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 22:58:04 -0500

Cool piece in the Somerville Journal about a man performing a one-man show about the sexual abuse he suffered as a youth at the hands of a priest. And kudos to the church for letting him perform it there.

New group for clergy abuse survivors in Central Mass.

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 23:00:58 -0500

A new support group is forming in the Worcester area to help victims of clergy abuse.

The group, which will meet every fourth Tuesday of the month, will be affiliated with the national Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

David O'Regan, 61, of Spencer, who is helping put the local group together, told the Worcester Telegram and Gazzette that its mission is to keep children safe, help victims heal, and promote public safety.

Mr. O'Regan said he was abused by a priest while attending a summer camp in Wellesley that was run by a Roman Catholic religious order. He said the new group will meet at in Auburn.

"People who were abused need help, even years after the incident occurred," he said.

Mr. O'Regan said there was a local SNAP chapter, but it closed some time ago. Those seeking help and counseling now attend SNAP organizations in Springfield and Boston.

Mr. O'Regan said he was abused by the Rev. Richard J. Ahern, who was the director of Camp Elm Bank. Rev. Ahern is now dead. Mr. O'Regan said the abuse began when he was 11, but he didn't tell anyone until the scandal of priestly sexual abuse rocked the Archdiocese of Boston in 2002.

"I had protected myself from the horrors of my abuse as a child by not allowing my mind to ever revisit the abuse," he said. "I always knew it happened, but I kept myself from thinking about it."

According to published reports, several boys charged they were abused at the camp, which was run by the Stigmatine Fathers. The camp was held at a campus along the Charles River that served as a "minor seminary" for high school boys hoping to become priests.

The estate was sold in 1971 and is now a state park and the headquarters of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

Mr. O'Regan said he felt better emotionally when he began attending a Boston-area SNAP group in 2004. He said he found out about the group from a SNAP
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"Members shared stories of their abuse, their nightmares. Their nightmare was my nightmare and mine theirs," said Mr. O'Regan. "I listened and understood the pain of others and they listened and understood mine."

The local group's first meeting is April 24.

Mass. Explores Eliminating Statute of Limitations for Sex Abuse

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:03:27 -0500

Powerful column from the Boston Globe's Kevin Cullen about pending legislation to eliminate the statute of limitations for criminal and civil cases in Massachusetts. Rep. O'Flaherty then resigned as House chair of the Judiciary Committee.

Mass. theater founder sentenced in teen rape case

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 23:08:01 -0500

The founder of a western Massachusetts theater has been sentenced to five-to-seven years in prison and five years' probation for his conviction of raping a teenage girl who took acting lessons from him.

The Northwest District Attorney's office said David Fried Oppenheim was sentenced in Hampshire Superior Court. Oppenheim, founder of the defunct Pioneer Arts Center in Easthampton, was convicted last month of child rape and abuse of a child.

The 38-year-old Fried Oppenheim denied the charges in court.

The alleged victim testified the sexual abuse began in 2007 when she was 14 and continued until 2009. Other former students and theater workers testified Oppenheim either had sex with them or acted inappropriately toward them when they were between ages 16 and 19. He wasn't charged over those allegations.

Mass. Rape Suspect Caught in Jersey

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 23:11:34 -0500

The rape suspect from Massachusetts who was apprehended at a New Jersey home earlier this week was once arrested for attempted murder in Massachusetts, authorities have confirmed, as reported by the Lawrenceville NJ patch.com website.

Byron Garcia, a 30-year-old North Andover, Mass., resident who recently fled Massachusetts amid accusations he had raped a young girl, was arrested Feb. 22 by U.S. Marshals at a home where relatives live in Lawrence Township, NJ. The girl allegedly raped by Garcia is just 4 years old, according to Deputy U.S. Marshal Michael Schroeder.

Garcia was arrested in 2009 for armed assault with intent to murder and illegal discharge of a firearm within 500 feet of a building, among other related charges, after police alleged he fired multiple shots at a car in Lawrence, Mass. No one was injured in that incident.

That case against Garcia was eventually dismissed, however. There had been speculation that the incident was gang-related, as gang violence had spiked during that time. And the alleged victim and witnesses in the case failed to show up to court multiple times, according to Carrie Kimball-Monahan, spokesperson for Essex County (Mass.) District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett.

Garcia remains in custody at the Mercer County Correction Center in New Jersey, awaiting extradition to Massachusetts.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Schroeder said police in North Andover, Mass., launched their investigation earlier this month into the alleged sexual assault of the 4-year-old victim and on Feb. 13 issued an arrest warrant for Garcia on charges of rape and indecent exposure involving a child under the age of 14. North Andover police feared Garcia would return to his native country of Guatamala.

Massachusetts State Police contacted the New Jersey State Police with the information that Garcia might be hiding out in Lawrence Township, and the job of going after him was passed Wednesday morning to the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, Schroeder said.

Created in 2002, the task force is made up of personnel from the U.S. Marshals Service, Mercer County Sheriff's Office, New Jersey State Police and about 100 other law enforcement agencies.

Task force members immediately went to the house on Eldridge Avenue in Lawrence Township where, according to Schroeder, several of Garcia's relatives - including his father and stepbrother - live. He said Garcia was found hiding in a bedroom closet.

Bouncer pleads not guilty to raping college student

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 23:16:20 -0500

A bounce at a Norton sports bar has been released on $5,000 bail after pleading not guilty to raping a Wheaton College student at the establishment. Paul Panaikas of Taunton is accused of raping the student at the Sportsway Café on Feb. 2.

Prosecutors said at his arraignment Wednesday that he pushed the woman into a closet and sexually assaulted her. Authorities say the woman's friends banged on the closet door.

The 38-year-old Panaikas' lawyer says his client is not guilty. The attorney says the Wheaton student "stalked'' his client, and willingly followed him into the closet. The defense lawyer also questioned why the alleged victim did not undergo tests for rape at the hospital and why it took her a week to report the case to police.

Boy Scouts Ordered to Produce Confidential Files Dealing With History of Sex Abuse

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:59:10 -0500

A judge overseeing a lawsuit brought by the family of a California boy molested by his troop leader in 2007 has ordered the Boy Scouts of America to hand over confidential files detailing allegations of sexual abuse by Scout leaders around the nation.

The Associated Press reports on an LA TImes story that the Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge ruled that the Scouts must turn over the last 20 years' worth of records by Feb. 24, with victims' names removed. The files will not be made public.

Known as "ineligible volunteer files," the documents have been maintained since the 1920s and are intended to keep suspected molesters and others accused of misconduct out of Scouting. Scouts officials have resisted releasing them and won't discuss their contents, citing the privacy rights of victims and the fact that many files are based on unproven allegations. Other lawyers in other cases have occasionally succeeded in persuading court to order the Scouts to produce the files. I have personally been involved in litigation against the Scouts where the "ineligible volunteer files" were a contentious issue, and we were able to obtain some Massachusetts-related files from a confidential source.

Scouts officials generally deny that the files have been used to conceal sexual abuse.
"These files exist solely to keep out individuals whose actions are inconsistent with the standards of Scouting, and Scouts are safer because of them," Deron Smith, public relations director of Boy Scouts of America, told the Los Angeles Times.

The Santa Barbara case is considered significant because it seeks to unlock files that have never been turned over by the Scouts, including all since 2005. It also alleges wrongdoing that took place relatively recently, even as the Scouts have stepped up protective efforts.

The trial is scheduled for April, nearly five years after the boy, then 13, was molested by volunteer troop leader Al Stein at a Boy Scouts Christmas tree sale in Goleta. Stein pleaded no contest to felony child endangerment in 2009. He was sentenced to two years in prison but was paroled early and is living in a Salinas motel with other sex offenders, his attorney Steven Balash told the newspaper.

The victim's name has not been released. His mother claims that David Tate, then the Los Padres Council Scout executive, asked her not to call police after she reported her son's claim of abuse.
"He said that wasn't necessary, because the Scouts do their own internal investigation," said the woman, whose name the LA Times withheld to protect her son's identity. "I thought that was really weird... I thought it was really important to call the sheriff right away."

The lawsuit contends the Scouts knew or should have known that Stein had put the boy at risk and cites Tate's reluctance to call police as evidence of an effort to conceal widespread sexual abuse.

Tate, now a top Scouts official in New York, declined to comment to the LA Times.

The boy's lawyers contend the files will expose the Scouts' "culture of hidden sexual abuse" and its failure to warn boys, their parents and others about pedophiles in the ranks of one of the nation's oldest youth organizations. "They have created these ticking time bombs who are walking through society, and nobody knows their identities except the Scouts," said Timothy Hale.

Some of the estimated 5,000 files have surfaced in recent years as a result of lawsuits by former Scouts accusing the organization of failing to exclude known pedophiles, detect abuses and report offenders to police, and allowing predators to remain at large.

Mass. theater founder convicted of raping teenager

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 23:08:44 -0500

The founder of a western Massachusetts theater has been convicted of raping a teenage girl who took acting lessons from him.

David Fried Oppenheim, founder of the defunct Pioneer Arts Center in Easthampton, was convicted in early February of child rape and abuse of a child. The Hampshire Superior Court jury in Northampton deliberated over two days. The alleged victim testified the sexual abuse began in 2007 when she was 14 and continued until 2009.

Other former students and theater workers testified he either had sex with them or acted inappropriately toward them when they were between ages 16 and 19. He wasn't charged over those allegations.

The 38-year-old Fried Oppenheim also testified and denied the charges.

Bail was set at $5,000 and sentencing set for March 8. Sentencing guidelines are in the 3-to-5-year range. The maximum is life.