BishopAccountability.org
	Longtime Prison Chaplain Target of Oregon Sex Abuse Lawsuit Associated Press, carried in OregonLive May 3, 2007 http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-19/1178218794322880.xml&storylist=orlocal Portland, Ore. (AP) — A Catholic priest who served 30 years as a prison chaplain stands accused in a civil suit of abusing young inmates in Oregon. The trial is the first in Oregon on claims of sex abuse on the part of a priest. Fifteen people have accused the Rev. Michael Sprauer of abusing them when they were serving time in the 1970s at what was known as the MacLaren School for Boys at Woodburn. It is now called the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility. The 15 plaintiffs settled their cases against the Portland Archdiocese, which recently won approval of a $75 million plan to emerge from bankruptcy. The Archdiocese settled with about 175 people, including the 15 in this case, who said they were abused by clergy or other church officials. The settlement didn't prevent the plaintiffs from pursuing their accusations against Sprauer and the state of Oregon, which employed the priest at MacLaren. A jury heard opening arguments Wednesday on the accusations of three former inmates, Randy Sloan, Norman Klettke Jr. and Robert Paul Jr. Sprauer has denied the allegations. His lawyer, Thomas Cooney Sr. said Wednesday that a witness will testify during the trial that one of the accusers tried to get him to go along with a scam to accuse the priest falsely. In a hearing Tuesday, psychologist Frank Colistro said he detected high-risk indicators in a videotaped deposition in which Sprauer acknowledged engaging in anonymous oral sex with adult males in restrooms during a 10-year period in the 1970s and 1980s. "That type of behavior is a serious warning sign of other deviant sexual behavior," said Colistro, a witness for Sprauer's accusers. Cooney argued that consensual sex in public restrooms wasn't relevant to the alleged sexual abuse of juvenile offenders at MacLaren. Daniel Gatti, representing the accusers, said Colistro's testimony would demonstrate that Sprauer engaged in a pattern of predatory and deviant sexual behavior. Judge Marshall Amiton ruled that Colistro can testify about Sprauer's "high risk" sexual behavior but won't be allowed to describe the priest as a sexual predator. On Wednesday, Gatti told the jurors that his clients were in isolation when Sprauer came into their cells and what appeared to be attempts to console the offenders turned to abuse. Lawyer Bill Tharp, who represents the state, said Sprauer is telling the truth and the plaintiffs' stories are inconsistent. "The abuse did not happen," Tharp said.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.