BishopAccountability.org
	Victims' Group Targets Director of Cedar Rapids-Based Chorale By Tom Witosky Des Moines Register July 22, 2010 http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100722/NEWS/7220343/-1/DMWEST/Victims-group-targets-director-of-Cedar-Rapids-based-chorale A victims' rights group is demanding that Iowa school choir directors cancel a performance at their annual convention next week by a Cedar Rapids-based choir whose director has been accused of sexually abusing a high school student nearly 20 years ago. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said Wednesday that it had asked the Iowa Choir Directors Association to cancel Tuesday's performance by Chorale Midwest, directed by Bradley Barrett. "You are responsible for the safety and well-being of every member of your association. A simple Google search would have shown that there's a current civil lawsuit, filed just last year, charging that Barrett repeatedly molested this Missouri boy. Given this fact, it's stunningly careless for you to let a man like Barrett into your organization's statewide meeting," a letter to association officials says. The four-day convention and symposium is to begin Sunday in Mason City Norm Grimm, president- elect of the choir directors group, said it had first learned of the group's demand Wednesday. He said the association would review the request, but he had no further comment. But David Dutton, a Waterloo lawyer representing Barrett, characterized SNAP's action as "scary and disgusting." "Facing this kind of a scare tactic based on a mere allegation in a civil suit is scarier than the McCarthy communist witch hunt back in the '50s, when all someone had to do was accuse you of being a communist and you couldn't work or even go out in polite society," Dutton said. "It has got to stop." The group has also sought to have Barrett, a Cedar Falls resident and director since 2003 of Chorale Midwest, an adult community choir, barred from appearing at a performance Sunday at Sinsinawa Mound, the motherhouse for the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters near Dubuque. Brent King, director of communications of the Diocese of Madison, Wis., said the sponsoring Dominican sisters have the sole authority to decide on the group's request. "We have asked that all appropriate measures be taken to assure to everyone's safety, as always. This is all the diocese has the power to do in this situation. We cannot presume guilt, but we must be cautious," King said. Adam Walker of Springfield, Mo., held a news conference last year on the University of Northern Iowa campus to inform Iowa parents and students of his lawsuit against Barrett, who was then an assistant music professor. Walker, 31, claims Barrett, his former music teacher, repeatedly abused him from 1992 through 1995. Criminal charges were never filed. UNI officials, after learning about the lawsuit, placed Barrett on paid leave, then terminated his employment on Dec. 1. Barrett's lawyers have filed a lawsuit disclosing that Barrett is homosexual and accusing UNI of discrimination because of his sexual orientation. UNI officials have denied Barrett's claim. Barrett has denied Walker's allegations in court documents filed in the Missouri case. Eight of the nine counts in that lawsuit have been dismissed by a federal magistrate. In addition, the magistrate is considering a motion to dismiss the final count on the ground that the statute of limitations on such lawsuits expired. Contact: twitosky@dmreg.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.