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	Questions Raised over Catholic Teacher's Transfer to Pueblo Associated Press, carried in Belleville News-Democrat [Pueblo CO] February 1, 2007 http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/16599905.htm The Marianist religious order said it will look into how a former brother accused in more than 20 lawsuits of subduing former students with ether before sexually abusing them was transferred to Colorado from Missouri in the 1960s. The Pueblo Chieftain reported in Thursday editions that a 56-year-old St. Louis man filed a police report in Kirkwood, Mo., in 2005, alleging that William Mueller sexually assaulted him while he attended Vianney High School from 1965 to 1969. According to the report, which was obtained by the newspaper, the man told a school administrator about Mueller's activities in late 1965 and early 1966. The man told police that he was gassed by Mueller on three occasions. The former student said he did not suspect sexual assault until the third incident. Mueller was transferred to Pueblo in 1966, where he taught at the church-run, all-boys Roncalli High School until it closed in 1971. Twenty-two former students there have filed lawsuits against the Marianist order and the Pueblo Catholic Diocese. Diane Guerra, spokeswoman for the Marianist Province of the United States, said Wednesday she would research Mueller's assignment to Pueblo. "It was very common for teaching brothers, especially early in their careers as Brother Mueller was (in the mid-1960s), to be transferred every year or every other year," Guerra said. "There's no proof that he was transferred to Pueblo because of any allegations." Miami-based attorney Adam Horowitz, who is representing the accusers in the Pueblo lawsuits, said work needs to be done to determine why Mueller was transferred. "Historically speaking, I believe it has been the practice of the Catholic Church to move wrongdoers from parish to parish or state to state instead of dealing with the allegations of misconduct directly," Horowitz said. Horowitz said more suits alleging abuse by Mueller may be forthcoming while settlement negotiations with the diocese and the Marianist order have stalled. The latest suit against Mueller involves a 52-year-old man, known as "John Doe No. 18," who now lives in Arapahoe County. Court records of the case were made public on Wednesday. The suit alleges that Mueller subdued the student with ether and sexually abused him after a junior varsity basketball game. Mueller voluntarily left the Marianist order in 1986 and now lives in San Antonio.
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