BishopAccountability.org
	Regina Dropped from Suit School Still Named in 2 Other Cases By Mike McWilliams Iowa City Press-Citizen October 11, 2006 http://www.hawkcentral.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061011/NEWS01/610110305/1079/HAWKS Regina Catholic Education Center will not be part of an upcoming civil trial involving sexual abuse allegations against one of its former principals, a judge ruled Tuesday. In a six-page ruling, Judge C.H. Pelton wrote that Iowa law protects schools from liability from claims five years after any alleged conduct took place. Last year, a former male Regina student filed a lawsuit against the school, the Diocese of Davenport and Lawrence Soens, who served as principal at Regina High School from 1958 to 1967. Pelton's ruling came one day after Regina School Board officials announced the school was preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy should it lose any of the three sexual abuse lawsuits filed against it. Regina remains a defendant in two other sexual abuse lawsuits that include a total 14 claimants. "It's good news for the school," Regina School Board chairman Lee Iben said of Pelton's ruling. "We've always maintained that Regina should not have been named in this particular lawsuit, and we were preparing ourselves to abide by the letter and intent of the law whatever the judge and jury would have ruled." Because Regina remains a defendant in two other sexual abuse lawsuits, Iben said the school is continuing to prepare for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. "We're taking all precautionary steps at this point," Iben said. "But with this news today, it is a relief." Applying the state's statute of repose, Pelton ruled that the man's claims expired five years after he last attended Regina. In this case, that would have been 1972. "The Iowa Legislature made a policy decision to provide schools a shield from claims of this nature more than five years old that it does not provide to other entities," Pelton wrote. The male student, who attended Regina from 1963 to 1967, accused Soens of sexually molesting him during private meetings in his office. The lawsuit claims the school and the diocese should have known about Soens' alleged conduct. Soens served as bishop of the Sioux City Diocese from 1983 to 1998. Davenport lawyer Craig Levien, who is representing the former student, said he was disappointed with Pelton's ruling. "We respect Judge Pelton, but we disagree with his reasoning," Levien said. "We're seriously considering an appeal, although a decision hasn't been made yet." Pelton's ruling does not apply to the diocese or Soens and the trial is still scheduled to start Oct. 23 in Davenport. On Tuesday, the diocese announced that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because the financial pressure and demands for settling as many as 25 outstanding claims of sexual abuse by its priests is too great. Reach Mike McWilliams at 339-7360 or mmcwilliams@press-citizen.com.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.