• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • 6
    CommentGo Back
Download
 
2 of 265 DOCUMENTSSpokesman Review (Spokane, WA)June 5, 2007 TuesdayIdaho Edition
FOUR MORE MEN ALLEGE ABUSE AT BOYS' RANCH;Two men name Weitensteiner as perpetrator at Morning Star;
BYLINE:
Benjamin Shors Staff writer 
SECTION:
B; Pg. 3
LENGTH:
521 wordsFour more men sued Morning Star Boys' Ranch on Monday, including two men who allege that theranch's revered director sexually abused them in the 1970s and '80s.Two of the plaintiffs - 50-year-old Raymond Nelson and 38-year-old Robert Gariepy - allege that theRev. Joseph Weitensteiner sexually abused them at the Catholic boys' home south of Spokane. In previouslegal filings, four other men have accused Weitensteiner of sexual abuse, according to Spokane County Su-perior Court documents.Reached late Monday, a Morning Star spokeswoman said Weitensteiner was not available for comment."Neither Morning Star nor our legal counsel have reviewed these new claims, so we can't comment onthem," said Jenn Kantz.In previous statements, Weitensteiner has strenuously denied previous allegations of sexual abuse.Morning Star said the priest passed a polygraph test."His denials have to be viewed with increasing skepticism given the mounting number of men who havecome forward and explicitly described the sex abuse they suffered at his hands," said Timothy Kosnoff, aSeattle attorney representing the plaintiffs.Weitensteiner, a 74-year-old Catholic priest, retired from Morning Star in 2006 amid allegations of sexualand physical abuse. The well-known boys' home opened in 1956 and has served 1,300 boys - many of whomhad been involved in Washington state's juvenile justice and child welfare system.Gariepy has a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for burglary, drug offenses and vehicleprowling, according to newspaper archives. Nelson also has a criminal record, Kosnoff acknowledged."You have accounts that are so detailed and cross-corroborating," Kosnoff said. "The grooming patterns,the information they know ? it just could not have been made up."Thirteen former residents have sued Morning Star in three separate lawsuits, and the cases have beenslowly winding through the civil courts. Last month, in a critical decision, a Spokane Superior Court judgeordered the ranch to release more than 1,000 personal files of former residents to the plaintiffs' attorneys.The allegations came as a shock to supporters of Weitensteiner, a decorated Boy Scouts leader, whobegan working at Morning Star as a counselor in 1957. He later left to join the priesthood and returned to be-come Morning Star's director in 1966.In 2005, after the first allegations surfaced in court documents, Weitensteiner said he had "never been
 
sexually inappropriate with any child at any time."Earlier that year, The Spokesman-Review reported that Morning Star had repeatedly allowed the physic-al and sexual abuse of boys in its care, citing records from the Department of Social and Health Services,court documents and interviews with former counselors and residents.In Monday's filing, part of an ongoing lawsuit against Morning Star, two other men - Curtis Stump, 42,and Glenn Anderson, 41 - alleged they were abused at the boys' home. Both men allege that former MorningStar counselor James Clarke sexually abused them.Clarke has previously been accused of molesting another resident who sued the ranch in 2005.
LOAD-DATE:
June 8, 2007
LANGUAGE:
ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE:
Newspaper Copyright 2007 Spokane Spokesman-Review3 of 265 DOCUMENTSSpokesman Review (Spokane, WA)June 5, 2007 TuesdayMetro Edition
FOUR MORE MEN ALLEGE ABUSE AT BOYS' RANCH;Two men name Weitensteiner as perpetrator at Morning Star;
BYLINE:
Benjamin Shors Staff writer 
SECTION:
B; Pg. 3
LENGTH:
563 wordsFour more men sued Morning Star Boys' Ranch on Monday, including two men who allege that theranch's revered director sexually abused them in the 1970s and '80s.Two of the plaintiffs - 50-year-old Raymond Nelson and 38-year-old Robert Gariepy - allege that theRev. Joseph Weitensteiner sexually abused them at the Catholic boys' home south of Spokane. In previouslegal filings, four other men have accused Weitensteiner of sexual abuse, according to Spokane County Su-perior Court documents.Reached late Monday, a Monday Star spokeswoman said Weitensteiner was not available for comment."Neither Morning Star nor our legal counsel have reviewed these new claims, so we can't comment onthem," said Jenn Kantz, Morning Star's spokeswoman.In previous statements, Weitensteiner has strenuously denied previous allegations of sexual abuse.Morning Star said the priest passed a polygraph test.
 
"His denials have to be viewed with increasing skepticism given the mounting number of men who havecome forward and explicitly described the sex abuse they suffered at his hands," said Timothy Kosnoff, aSeattle attorney representing the plaintiffs.Gariepy has a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for burglary, drug offenses and vehicleprowling, according to newspaper archives. Nelson also has a criminal record, Kosnoff acknowledged."You have accounts that are so detailed and cross-corroborating," Kosnoff said. "The grooming patterns,the information they know ? it just could not have been made up."Thirteen former residents have sued Morning Star in three separate lawsuits, and the cases have beenslowly winding through the civil courts. Last month, in a critical decision, a Spokane Superior Court judgeordered the ranch to release more than 1,000 personal files of former residents to the plaintiffs' attorneys.The allegations came as a shock to supporters of Weitensteiner, a decorated Boy Scout leader, whobegan working at Morning Star as a counselor in 1957. He later left to join the priesthood and returned to be-come Morning Star's director in 1966.In 2005, after the first allegations surfaced in court documents, Weitensteiner said he had "never beensexually inappropriate with any child at any time."Earlier that year, the Spokesman-Review reported that Morning Star had repeatedly allowed the physic-al and sexual abuse of boys in its care, citing records from the Department of Social and Health Services,court documents and interviews with former counselors and residents.In Monday's filing, part of an ongoing lawsuit against Morning Star, two other men - Curtis Stump, 42,and Glenn Anderson, 41 - alleged they were abused at the boys' home. Both men allege that former MorningStar counselor James Clarke sexually abused them.Clarke has previously been accused of molesting another resident, who sued the ranch in 2005.SIDEBAR:AT A GLANCE*The Rev. Joseph Weitensteiner, a 74-year-old Catholic priest, retired from Morning Star Boys' Ranch in2006 amid allegations of sexual and physical abuse. He is accused of sex abuse by two of the alleged vic-tims named in Monday's lawsuit. The other two men say former Morning Star counselor James Clarke sexu-ally abused them.*The Morning Star Boys' Ranch opened in 1956 and has served 1,300 boys, many of whom had beeninvolved in Washington state's juvenile justice and child welfare system.
LOAD-DATE:
June 8, 2007
LANGUAGE:
ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE:
Newspaper Copyright 2007 Spokane Spokesman-Review4 of 265 DOCUMENTSSpokesman Review (Spokane, WA)
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
ladder123

INTERMATIC CORP SPRING GROVE IL FIRES 600 EMPLOYEES MOST OF WHICH ARE HOMELESS OR CLOSE TO IT BUT THEY KEEP CHILD PORN SEX OFFENDERS, WHATS UP?

reply03 / 03 / 2009
ladder123

SICK PEOPLE! ALMOST AS SICK AS THE BELOW SEX OFFENDERS KIMBERLY MIELKE EMPLOYER: INTERMATIC CORP IL Police still seek sex offenders Article from:Grayslake Review (IL) Article date:January 1, 1998 Author: MICHAEL ULREICH | Copyright informationCopyright 1998, Grayslake Review, Pioneer Press. All rights reserved. REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED. (Hide copyright information) Early in the morning, three days before Christmas, a coalition of local police forces spread out to execute arrest warrants on the 19 Lake County suspects who failed to comply with the Sex Offenders Registration Act including a Wildwood resident convicted of rape and deviant sexual assault. Those arrested Dec. 22 and indicted for violation of the Sex Offenders Registration Act include Nathan Defensor, 39, of unincorporated Gurnee, convicted of criminal sexual assault; Douglas Lunsford, 62, of Lake Villa, convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse; Kimberly Mielke, 28, of unincorporated Antioch, convicted of child pornography; and Michael Scott, 42, of Gurnee, convicted of criminal sexual ...

reply03 / 03 / 2009
dawniebees1941

I was trying to find information on Michael Gallagher who was arrested in 1982 in Alabama. My search led me to this page, however, I can't find anthing about him in this document.

reply01 / 18 / 2009
kma193

where is document number 1????

reply07 / 01 / 2008
sister

anyone know who rhea rolfe is?

reply04 / 20 / 2008
yoshitoma

This is most disturbing and depressing.

reply06 / 20 / 2007
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...