FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 10, 2003

Contact: Bob Weiner 301-283-0821 or 202-329-1700

CHILD MOLESTATION VICTIM TO SUE CLERIC;

Alleged Perpetrator Still Works at Parochial School in Napa

PRESS CONFERENCE MON., MAY 12, 1:30 P.M., SAN FRANCISCO SUPERIOR COURTHOUSE FRONT DOOR,

POLK AND MCALLISTER STREETS

What:

Mary Alexander and Dan Cooper, attorneys and a sexual victim/advocate will discuss a new civil molestation lawsuit being filed by an Arizona man against an alleged abusive cleric (who has not been named publicly or sued before).

When:

Monday, May 12, 1:30 p.m.

Where:

Outside San Francisco Superior Courthouse, at the front door, at corner of Polk Street, 400 McAllister Street in San Francisco.

Who:

The head of a Bay Area support group for sexual abuse survivors and Mary Alexander, a California attorney, and Dan Cooper, an Arizona attorney.

Details:

Brother Francis Verngren, who now works at a religious school in Napa, Saint Apollinaris School), is being sued by Gene Reedy. Reedy states that Verngren molested him from 1966 – 1970 when the cleric was principal and head dorm resident at St. Mary’s Preparatory Grammar School in Berkeley, and began when Reedy was a sixth grader. The school closed and moved to Napa in about 1970.

In 1969, Reedy disclosed his victimization to another school staffer. Verngren was temporarily removed but then returned to his position, leaving Reedy in constant fear of being intimidated and abused again.

Other defendants include the Diocese of Oakland, John Cummins, Brothers of the Christian Schools (Province of San Francisco). The suit seeks actual and punitive damages, and charges church officials with conspiring to obstruct justice.

The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, is made possible by a novel California statute that took effect Jan. 1. The new law, the only one of its kind in America, lifts the civil statute of limitations on sexual abuse for one year. Thus, almost anyone who was molested at any time in California may seek justice in the courts during 2003.

(Source: Robert Weiner Associates and Mary Alexander and Associates, 301-283-0821)