By Leslie Rupiper
KSFY
December 18, 2008
http://www.ksfy.com/news/local/36405744.html
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14 lawsuits were filed today against the Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese, priests and nuns. The suits accuse them of abusing Native American kids at the Marty Indian School. Lawyers say some of the alleged incidents happened as long as 50 years ago, others as recent as the 1980's.
Lawyers for the alleged victims in this case call the abuse "grotesque acts of sadomasochistic violence". But an attorney for the Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese says it had nothing to do with the operation of the Marty Indian School.
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Three attorneys representing the alleged victims in the case filed the lawsuits in Minnehaha County Court Thursday morning. They say the allegations include physical and sexual abuse, and they're blaming it on the diocese and the Benedictine priests from Blue Cloud Abbey in northeast South Dakota.
John Manly an attorney for the alleged victims says, "We are trying to hold those in charge, the corporate officers, accountable for child molestation."
But a lawyer for the Sioux Falls Diocese says it had nothing to do with the Marty Indian School.
Attorney Jeremiah Murphy says, "They say we owned and directed their operations. That's just false." Murphy says this lawsuit is not new, but that the attorneys are, and that they held today's news conference for publicity.
Murphy says, "They want to make it look like we're hiding a lot, but we're not."
Attorneys for the alleged victims say the diocese is ultimately responsible for the abuse.
John Manly says, "If you're a religious order, you cannot operate in a diocese without the bishop's permission. In 1976, the Marty Indian School switched hands, from Blue Cloud Abbey to the Yankton Sioux Tribe.
The tribe has owned and operated it ever since.
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