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	Church, Diocese Sued for Alleged Rape Cover-Up By Nate Smith Washington Times-Herald July 25, 2010 http://washtimesherald.com/local/x2105965279/Church-diocese-sued-for-alleged-rape-cover-up WASHINGTON — A recently-filed civil lawsuit alleges that the Evansville Catholic Diocese, the Catholic Community of Washington and other Catholic officials tried to cover up a 2007 rape at the former St. Mary's School and advised the victim take a "morning after" drug. The suit, filed last year but only made known recently to the Times-Herald, alleges church officials tried to convince a 23-year-old and her mother there was not a rape, but consensual sex. The church, in its response to the suit, has denied the allegations and said the sex at St. Mary's was consensual and no one suggested the emergency contraceptive. The Catholic Church doctrine says the drug, among other forms of contraception, is against its beliefs. The act was committed at the old St. Mary's School, now Cornerstone Christian Academy, on Nov. 4, 2007, when the girl claimed she was raped by Fredy Mendez-Morales during an abstinence youth retreat at the school. The victim has been classified as mentally handicapped, the plaintiffs wrote. The victim graduated from Jasper High School in 2003 from its special education program. Mendez-Morales, 27, formerly of Washington, pled guilty to rape, a Class B felony, on Oct. 28, 2009, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Two doctors told the court that the victim was not able to mentally consent to sexual activity, leading to the guilty plea. According to a spokesperson with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Mendez-Morales was deported back to El Salvador on Jan 28. The suit also names Sister Karen Durliat, a nun with the Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand and the director of the Guadalupe Center in Huntingburg; Kande Batz, an employee of the Guadalupe Center; Jorge Gomez, a seminarian based at St. Meinrad Archabbey and Mendez-Morales. Gomez was recently ordained as a deacon with the Diocese of Tulsa, Okla., and is in his last year before being ordained into the priesthood. No persons associated with the Catholic Community of Washington were named, but since St. Mary's was still in the church's possession, it was named in the suit. Cornerstone and Harvest Community Fellowship purchased the building in 2009. It is the policy of the Times-Herald not to name victims of rape or sexual abuse, nor family members of the victims. The defendants named in the suit all referred requests for comment to the Evansville Diocese. "Everything the diocese has stated publicly is in the answer to the lawsuit," Diocese Spokesman Paul Leingang said. "That is the only public comment we will make at this time." Their attorneys, David Miller and Clay Havill of the Evansville firm of Ziemer, Stayman, Weitzel and Shoulders also declined comment. The victim's attorney, Curtis Johnson, through the Shelbyville firm of Brown, DePrez and Johnson, said the church's position on the case is "surprising." "Clearly what has happened to our client is tragic," Johnson said. "Their position seems to perpetuate their victimization." The victim and the family, through their attorney, declined comment. The act The probable cause affidavit in the criminal case against Mendez-Morales mentions nothing of some of the accusations in the civil suit, but gives a description of the events that led to him pleading guilty to rape. At approximately 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 4, the victim told the Indiana State Police, she went to the bathroom and noticed a male standing in the hallway. The two talked about massages, and Mendez-Morales said he would rub her shoulders. They then kissed, according to the affidavit, and Mendez-Morales started to grope her. The victim told him that she did not want to continue and then they went to the third floor of the school. The victim again told Mendez-Morales she did not want to be there, but he persisted. He stripped the victim and proceeded to rape her in a bathroom on the third floor. It is after the incident that the alleged cover-up started. The allegations The allegations in the suit against the diocese and the local church mostly happen after the rape. Both sides have differing views of what happened. In the amended complaint, the victim and her mother claim that Batz and Durliat were holding the retreat, titled "The Philosophy of Intimacy: A Look at the Sexuality of Christian Youth, A Retreat for Youth and Young Adults Over 16 Years of Age." Gomez, a seminarian, was assisting at the retreat that included both young women and men. Batz called the victim, according to the complaint, and invited her to attend. The victim's mother dropped off the victim at the school. The complaint said the victim was dropped off at the school around 5:45 p.m. on Nov. 3. The complaint also said both Batz and Durliat knew the victim was mentally challenged. According to her own testimony for a "U" non-immigrant visa, the victim said she graduated from Jasper High School in 2003 in the Special Education program with a certificate of completion. The school confirmed the information. After the incident with the victim and Mendez-Morales, the victim informed Batz and asked for her cell phone to call her mother. All participants had been asked to turn over their cell phones when the retreat started. The complaint said Batz denied the request, then the victim asked Batz to call her mother. Batz told the victim to take a shower and "then to lie down and try to sleep." "(The victim) complied with both requests," the amended complaint said. "At some point during the night or early the next morning, the rape scene was cleaned of (the victim's) blood." The complaint said the victim's mother was called at 7:45 a.m. on Nov. 4. After that, the victim was taken to a room where she was with Gomez. In the room, the complaint said that Gomez "proceeded to tell (the victim) that this incident was all her fault and began trying to convince her that she had consensual sex with Mendez." After that, Batz and Durliat came into the room and told the victim the same. The victim's mother received a voice mail from Batz around 7:45 a.m., and was asked to come to the school. When she arrived, she met with the victim and "various church officials." They said the victim had consensual sex with Mendez-Morales. "Upset and not sure of what to do, (the victim's mother) wanted to contact local law enforcement but was told not to do so by Batz," the amended complaint said. The victim's mother then contacted two siblings, who were not named in the complaint but lived nearby, to come to the school. The siblings then insisted church officials call Washington police. The amended complaint said the officer was met outside by church officials and left because both the victim and the perpetrator were adults. It was then that church officials, according to the complaint, suggested that the victim be taken to the pharmacy and get the "morning after pill for (the victim) to prevent contraception." After the meeting, the complaint said, the victim and her mother went to Jasper Memorial Hospital, where the Indiana State Police started its investigation into the incident. The amended complaint said the defendants were negligent, confined the victim, alleges civil conspiracy, sexual abuse and rape by Mendez-Morales and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The response The amended answer to the victim's allegations is in stark contrast to the complaint filed. Attorneys for the church agree there was a retreat and it was in Washington, but deny in its response that either Batz or Durliat knew the victim was mentally handicapped. When the incident occurred is where the two documents offer different stories. In the amended answer, Batz said the victim did not ask for permission to use the restroom. The answer did not give a response to what happened on the third floor, where the act occurred. Although the defense said cell phones were collected, they say the victim did not contact Batz or any other Diocese official to say she was raped or ask for her cell phone. Also, the defense said the victim "specifically requested that Batz not call (her mother)." Also denied was the advice that the victim take a shower, the victim sleep and the cleaning of any blood. The victim asked again that morning not to call her mother, the amended answer said. But Batz did call her mother and when she arrived, they told her mother the victim had consented to sex with Mendez-Morales and the victim told them so. The two sides agreed that Gomez met with the victim, but in the amended answer, she made statements on "her expectation regarding how (her mother) would respond." Durliat and Batz also told the victim's mother that she engaged in consensual sex. The defense said Durliat did talk to the Washington police officer, Ptl. Jeff Boes, outside, but the officer was led into the school where both the victim and Mendez-Morales told Boes, in front of church officials and the victim's mother, there was consensual sex. Boes then left the scene after he found the two were adults and said they consented, the amended answer said. As to the question of the "morning after pill," the defense denied the allegation. They also denied the claims the plaintiffs made on her safety. The case against Mendez-Morales The criminal case file against Mendez-Morales stated the victim was taken to Jasper Memorial Hospital where she was examined in its emergency room. At around 8:24 p.m. on Nov. 3, a state police trooper arrived, the nurse at the hospital said the victim had just finished with a sexual assault kit and clothes was bagged. The clothing, according to the case report, were bloody and taken as evidence. Photographs were also taken. The nurse and a cousin of the victim told the trooper that the victim was mentally handicapped. With the help of Crisis Connection, the family and a Hispanic officer from Huntingburg, the victim recounted what happened. She gave the trooper a piece of paper with Mendez-Morales' name and telephone number that he had given her. It was not until Nov. 28, 2007, that Mendez-Morales was interviewed by State Police Det. Dana Miller and Officer Jesus Monnarez of the Huntingburg Police Department in Huntingburg. Mendez-Morales said sexual intercourse did happen but it was consensual, saying, "She wanted it so bad." Mendez-Morales went on to say the victim grabbed his hand and forced him onto her. He said he did not notice any blood until the next day when he took a shower. He also said the victim never told him "No." Mendez-Morales said that after, he heard footsteps and hid in a bathroom stall. The act, he said, occurred on the second floor, not the third floor as the victim said. In the meantime, the victim was interviewed by a psychologist to conduct an evaluation of her mental capacities. In a March 24, 2008, letter to the Daviess County Prosecutor's Office he said: "It is my opinion, based upon the medical and educational history as well as psychological testing, that (the victim) is not capable of engaging in consent and in consequently (sic) incompetent." Mendez-Morales was arrested on May 12, 2008, charged with four counts, two of Class D felony sexual battery and two of Class B felony rape. Mendez-Morales was represented by public defender Blake Chambers for his criminal defense. Chambers asked Bloomington-based Dr. David Crane to evaluate the victim. Crane too, felt that the victim was not able to consent to sexual contact. A plea deal was then struck, and Mendez-Morales was sentenced. Chambers said that his client did have a temporary visa before the incident, but it expired while he was in jail. Since he was not able to renew it, he was deported. In cooperating with the prosecutor's office, the victim and her brother, since he is her part-guardian, were able to apply for a "U" non-immigrant visa. According to the Department of Homeland Security's Citizenship and Immigration Service, a "U" non-immigrant visa was created by Congress in 2000 to help law enforcement agencies offer protection to victims of violent crimes. Rape is one of the crimes under the act. In the case file, Prosecutor Byron Overton wrote a letter in support of the visa. The visa application was assisted by attorney Lisa Yankey of the Indianapolis-based Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic. The clinic said it could not disclose whether or not the victim received the visa. With the visa application, the victim gave a affidavit of what happened. Most of what the victim said in the affidavit ended up in the amended complaint against the church, but had several items that were not, including that the victim's sister and brother were at the retreat. The victim also claimed that Batz accused her of being a whore and she met with Gomez and Durliat the night of the rape. "They hid me from everyone else," the victim said in the affidavit. "There were about 25 people there, and they were all told I went home." The victim also said in the affidavit that she felt "like justice has not been served and this has been going on for two years." "I have been having nightmares since this happened," the victim said. "I have to take pills to go to sleep. I also suffer from depression and receive counseling from Crisis Connection." Since there is a civil suit in court, the prosecutor's office did not want to comment on the criminal case. The civil case is currently open in the Daviess County Circuit Court. Johnson said both sides are in the discovery phase of the civil case. No hearings or trial date have been set.
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