December 09, 2005

Civil action targets Derby church, former organist

WATERBURY (CT)
Republican-American

Friday, December 9, 2005

BY KATHY HALLORAN and WILL SISS
Republican-American

WATERBURY -- A civil suit has been filed in Superior Court on behalf of two underage Oxford girls against Immanuel St. James Episcopal Church in Derby and the church's former organist, Robert Nelson.

The girls' attorneys, Martin J. Minnella and Timothy C. Moynahan, of Waterbury filed the suit Thursday. The defendants are seeking more than $15,000 in damages as a result of years of sexual abuse at the hands of Nelson, Moynahan said.

The suit alleges the girls -- who are identified in the suit as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 -- were sexually assaulted over a period of years by Nelson and that the church failed to properly check Nelson's background before hiring him.

Nelson, 51, formerly of Naugatuck, has prior convictions for risk of injury to a minor from incidents in 1989 and 1990 in Newtown and Trumbull.

He recently pleaded guilty to sexual assault on the two girls in the first degree, second degree and fourth degree, and could serve 15 years. He is currently incarcerated in the Cheshire Correctional Institution.

Posted by kshaw at December 9, 2005 07:39 AM