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  Jurors Selected for Boys Town Trial

The Associated Press, carried in Lincoln Journal-Star
September 20, 2006

http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/09/20/nebraska/doc45101973588b5744429545.txt

Omaha — A man who says he was abused by a counselor at an Omaha facility for children may seek $1 million in damages, his attorney said Monday.

John Sturzenegger's lawsuit against Girls and Boys Town and former counselor Glenn Moore began in Omaha on Monday with jury selection.

Both the facility and Moore deny Sturzenegger's allegations.

Attorney James Sherrets mentioned the $1 million amount during jury selection.

In the suit, Sturzenegger claims he was sexually abused in 1997 while a 14-year-old resident at Boys Town.

Therapy Sturzenegger needs as a result could cost $300,000, his attorney said.

This marks the first trial arising from five sexual abuse lawsuits filed against the facility in recent years. Another is pending in federal court and the others were dropped or dismissed.

While questioning potential jurors, Boys Town attorney James Martin Davis urged them to separate the facility from sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic church.

Boys Town is nondenominational, Davis said, and only two priests work on campus.

Potential jurors also were asked if they had donated money to Boys Town and about their religious beliefs. Sherrets specifically asked whether their religious beliefs would make allow them to objectively decide whether Boys Town should be held responsible.

The trial is expected to last more than a week.

Moore no longer works at Boys Town.

In his suit, Sturzenegger said Moore was a house supervisor. Sturzenegger said he was fondled and offered money to run around naked expose himself and masturbate.

The facility was known as Boys Town until 2000, when it changed its name to Girls and Boys Town. Headquartered in Omaha, it has worked with troubled children since it was founded by the Rev. Edward J. Flanagan in 1917.

Girls and Boys Town operates programs in 15 states.

 
 

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