Christian Brother Accused of Molesting Students

http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1140634.shtml?cat=1

Fourth Minnesota Lawsuit Involving Brother Raimond Rose

By Patrick Noaker

Another courageous client filed a lawsuit against Brother Raimond Rose, the Brothers of the Christian Schools and Cretin High School today. It is difficult to quantify the positive impact that occurs when a courageous survivor of sexual abuse takes a stand and files a lawsuit. One major impact is that others who have also been sexually abused may read about the lawsuit and come forward to get the help that they need and deserve. Another impact is that a parent or caretaker of a child who is exposed to the perpetrator may terminate that contact to protect that child. This is very real in the case of Bro. Raimond Rose because Fr. Rose currently lives without supervision in a Chicago neighborhood with lots of kids. Hopefully the outreach by the victims groups and maybe the media will get the word out that Brother Rose is dangerous and protect your children from him.

Further, and the topic of this posting is that filing a sexual abuse lawsuit has the effect of encouraging institutions who care for children to insure that they do not have child abusers on their payroll and insure that all employees who have contact with children are properly supervised. I recognize that this last point is difficult at times. We have all felt that twinge when we are volunteering at our child’s school, coaching a little league team or supervising a camp out, when we are informed of the rules relating to contact with children. No physical contact, even pats on the back. No one-on-one interactions with a child. Don’t enter a tent. These restrictions cause us to think about when we were young, they didn’t have any of these rules. It must be those trial lawyers making life difficult for all of us. Unfortunately, this case filed today reveals that the old days were not necessarily the good old days for an awful lot of kids. The boy in today’s lawsuit was 15 years old when Bro. Rose took him on a trip to Chicago with a group of other boys from Cretin High School in 1969. While at the hotel, Bro. Rose purchased liquor for the boys and then isolated and sexually assaulted the boy. Had there been rules about who and when an adult could interact with the children on the Chicago trip back in 1969, this boy would have probably been spared the pain of being sexually abused. This boy, who is now a man, is doing his part to make kids safer. I hope that we all can make that same commitment and remember this boy when we are being subjected to a lot of rules and procedures surrounding the time that we spend volunteering in our child’s kindergarten class.


http://andersonadvocates.com/ViewFile.aspx?ID=317

School District Held Accountable for Teachers' Sexual Harassment of Student

By Kathleen O'Connor

Today an article appeared in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune about one of our clients, Alex Merritt, who was harassed by two of his teachers based on his perceived sexual orientation. Alex’s name is being made public upon his express request. It is the policy of this office to keep the identity of our clients strictly confidential unless the client consents to the disclosure of his or her identity, as in Alex’s case.

It should be noted that Alex, who is not homosexual, courageously brought an action against the school district to account for the consequences of the egregious actions of the teachers. Alex paid the price for his courage when his fellow students ostracized and retaliated against him for reporting the teacher’s harassment to the school district. The district failed to address this retaliation and ostracization, forcing Alex and his family to move out of the community where Alex had lived his entire life.

Alex, his mother Jodi and his family are to be commended for standing up to the district and holding it accountable not only for its inadequate response to the harassment of Alex, but also in protecting future students against harassment based on perceived or actual sexual orientation. As part of the settlement agreement , the school district agreed to have the Minnesota Department of Human Rights review and approve its policies addressing the district’s obligations under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, and to submit training materials related to student harassment, its complaint process, and sexual orientation as a protected class.

It is our hope that Alex’s courage in standing up will help others who are suffering in silence and shame to come forward, speak out and not tolerate sexual harassment in our schools. Schools should be a place for children to learn and to feel safe and secure and free from harassment, particularly from those who are doing the teaching.

For more details about the harassment that Alex endured, visit www.humanrights.state.mn.us and click on “Case of the Month”.