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	Open Door Settles with Victim in Lawsuit By Brad Dicken The Chronicle-Telegram August 15, 2009 http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2009/08/15/open-door-settles-with-victim-in-lawsuit/ ELYRIA — The Open Door Christian School reached a settlement Friday with a former student who had accused the school of ignoring sexual abuse by her former math teacher. The girl’s attorney, Michael Polito, said he couldn’t discuss the terms of the settlement because of a confidentiality agreement. “We’re very happy with the results,” he said. The case had been scheduled to go to trial Monday before Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Rothgery. The lawsuit accused the school, which is run by the Church of the Open Door, of ignoring the girl’s complaints about teacher Travis Mulanax. The girl, who attended the school between 2001 and 2003, had first complained about Mulanax in 2001, the lawsuit said. Mulanax, who was convicted in March 2003 of sexual imposition and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, touched the girl several times, including once in a pool in the summer of 2001. Mulanax, who also was the school’s junior high principal and athletic director at the time, also was accused of making inappropriate contact with the girl in the winter of 2002, including at a school dance. Other students and school officials also reported that Mulanax pursued the girl in an effort to get her to be his girlfriend, hugged her and hung out at her locker. When told about Mulanax’s behavior Superintendent Michael Bova reportedly responded that “we are just huggy-feely in our youth group,” the lawsuit said. Mulanax was fired from the school in May 2002. Bova and the church were dismissed as defendants in the case by Rothgery, and Polito said his client dropped her claims against Mulanax in the case earlier this month. But he said the girl plans to sue Mulanax, who received a six-month jail sentence in his criminal case, separately. Rothgery was criticized in 2007 when he sealed the lawsuit over concerns that the victim’s name would be available in the public record. He later changed his mind and ordered the girl to only be referred to as Jane Doe in court filings. Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com
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