Multi-million dollar settlement over alleged sex abuse
Story By: Ryan Wilson
Source: KOAA
Published Thu Oct 30, 2008, 07:38 PM MDT
Updated Thu Oct 30, 2008, 07:42 PM MDT
Twenty three men who say they were sexually abused 40-years ago by a brother at a catholic high school in Pueblo, have settled a lawsuit for $4 million.
William Mueller was a music teacher at Roncalli High School. He would allegedly tell students he was conducting an experiment. Mueller would then sedate the students with ether, and sexually abuse them inside the bandroom.
The Pueblo Catholic Diocese and the Marianist Religious Order will pay the settlement. The lawyer for the plaintiffs says the Marianists and the Diocese knew that Mueller had abused children before and that's why they were sued.
But Mueller's never gone to prison, because the statute of limitations expired. "If there's one regret that I have," plaintiff attorney Adam Horowitz said, "It's that William Mueller's still a free man, and he's never been prosecuted criminally."
He says that Mueller lives in San Antonio, Texas, in a trailer park. Bishop Arthur Tafoya released a statement saying "I sincerely hope that this resolution will provide some peace for these men, and also for the people of the Diocese of Pueblo who have been affected."
Horowitz says that about 16 of the men who alleged abuse still live in Pueblo. Roncalli High School is now Roncalli Middle School and is run by the Pueblo City School District.
