UNITED STATES
San Antonio Express-News
Web Posted: 11/05/2005 12:00 AM CST
J. Michael Parker
Express-News Staff Writer
Five more lawsuits were filed this week in Pueblo, Colo., alleging sexual abuse by a former Society of Mary brother who was band director at San Antonio's Central Catholic High School from 1971 to 1981.
The suits filed Thursday bring to eight the number of suits by former students of Pueblo's Roncalli High School naming the Society of Mary's St. Louis-based U.S. province and the Diocese of Pueblo.
They claim diocese and Society of Mary officials failed to stop sexual abuse by then-Brother William Mueller, now 67 and a San Antonio native, who taught at Roncalli from 1966 to 1971.
Pueblo Bishop Arthur Tafoya issued a statement Friday apologizing for the harm and pain victims have suffered and offering assistance to all victims in his diocese. "To the best of my knowledge, the Diocese of Pueblo received no complaints or reports against former Brother Mueller until the recent claims in 2005," he said.