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	Lawsuit against Green Bay Diocese Returns to Court This Week 29-Year-Old Abuse Victim Accuses Church Officials of Intimidating Him in 1990 By Andy Nelesen Press-Gazette [Green Bay WI] January 29, 2007 http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070129/GPG0101/701290481/1207/GPGnews David Schauer's civil lawsuit against the Diocese of Green Bay revs back up this week as lawyers and the court head to Taylor County to decide if church officials intimidated Schauer from suing the diocese in 1990. Schauer, now 29, was molested in 1988 as a student at Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic School in Green Bay. Donald Buzanowski, a priest working at the school, was convicted by a Brown County jury in July of two counts of sexual assault of a child and was sentenced to 32 years in prison. A Taylor County jury is hearing the case to combat pre-trial publicity stemming from the raft of pre-trial hearings, which included stories discussing a rejected settlement offer and a failed motion by Schauer's lawyer that demanded Brown County Circuit Court Judge Mark Warpinski recuse himself from the case. The trial, held in Medford and scheduled to begin today, is expected to last about a week. Schauer's civil case was filed against Buzanowski, the school, the Diocese of Green Bay and several insurance companies in April 2003 and asks for damages to compensate Schauer for the fallout of Buzanowski's attacks. In July 2003, Warpinski dismissed Schauer's lawsuit on the grounds that the statute of limitations for a civil suit had expired. The case was reinstated by the state Court of Appeals, which ruled that because the school and diocese had allegedly discouraged Schauer from filing a suit, the matter deserved another day in court. If a jury finds that there was influence and intimidation by the church — a legal axiom called equitable estoppel — the statute of limitations no longer applies and the civil case will go to a liability phase where damages could be assessed against the church and the now defrocked Donald Buzanowski. Schauer's claim said church officials in a March 1990 meeting threatened his family with a defamation lawsuit if they made accusations against Buzanowski public. Schauer also claims the diocese promised that Buzanowski would not serve as a priest and would not be involved in counseling of children. Schauer's lawyers has said that the 2003 claim was filed shortly after Schauer learned that Buzanowski admitted there were other victims from a letter Buzanowski wrote to a friend admitting he molested 14 boys between 1969 and 1988. Schauer, now 29, lives in Marshfield and recently graduated with a nursing degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. E-mail: anelesen@greenbaypressgazette.com
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