PUEBLO (CO)
Rocky Mountain News
By Felix Doligosa Jr., Rocky Mountain News
November 4, 2005
Five sexual abuse lawsuits were filed Thursday against the Diocese of Pueblo and a religious order in connection with a former Catholic school teacher.
Victims alleged they were blindfolded and sexually abused by Brother William Mueller at Roncalli High School in Pueblo over 30 years ago. The school closed in 1971.
The plaintiffs are each seeking $10 million in damages from the diocese and the Marianists Province of the United States.
The lawsuit said church officials knew about the abuse and tried to conceal it. This is the eighth lawsuit against the church and religious order in connection with Mueller. The order is facing another lawsuit in Missouri.
Mueller, 67, was a band teacher at the high school from 1966-71, said Diane Guerra, spokeswoman for the St. Louis-based Marianists order. Mueller called the Marianists group shortly after the first lawsuits were filed and apologized for the bad publicity he had given to the order, Guerra said. Mueller now lives in San Antonio.