PUEBLO (CO)
The Pueblo Chieftain
By PATRICK MALONE
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
A former Puebloan who is suing the local Catholic diocese over alleged sexual abuse said he doesn't want the church to genuflect at his feet. Rather, he is asking the church to stand up.
"They deny any culpability, but it’s time for any part of the Catholic Church - this diocese, the Marianists - to say, ‘We made a horrible mistake and we’re sorry,’ instead of lawyering up," said J.M., one of two men who filed suits in district court last week over the abuse allegations. "They need to be men about it and admit it."
J.M., who granted The Pueblo Chieftain an interview on condition of anonymity, is suing the Catholic Diocese of Pueblo and the Society of Mary Religious order for $10 million. The suit alleges that Brother William Mueller used ether to render J.M. unconscious, then sodomized him on two occasions in 1968, when J.M. was a 15-year-old sophomore at Roncalli High School.
J.M. carried the secret with him for years, until he reunited with a former Roncalli schoolmate through www.classmates.com.