Our Team Taking Action
Sexual abuse thrives in secrecy and silence. While many survivors want to maintain privacy during this process there are others who find speaking out helps in the healing process. When our brave clients speak out and reveal what happened to them and inform the general public, kids are protected.
The media is particularly crucial to the advancement of our cause to protect children. Through press conferences, media statements, and television interviews, we can shine a light on the evil deeds that are done in the dark. Members of the media often contact our attorneys to offer comment on various issues surrounding sexual abuse, rape, and sexual exploitation.
AP News / 08.04.22
Seven Years of Sex Abuse: How Mormon Officials Let It Happen:
“The help line is certainly there to help — to help the church keep its secrets and to cover up abuse,” said Craig Vernon, an Idaho attorney who has filed several sex abuse lawsuits against the church…” Read more…
ABC 13 (WHAM) / 05.23.22
“There’s been a major decision in favor of sex abuse survivors in the Catholic Diocese of Rochester…” Read more…
ABQ (The Paper.) / 04.20.21
“The Archdiocese of Santa Fe is facing yet another scandal, but this time the lawsuit was filed by seven men who allegedly suffered sexual abuse during their time at St. Michael’s High School in Santa Fe.” Read more…
ABC 13 (WHAM) / 04.19.21
“Forty years after she says she was sexually abused by a high school teacher, a woman told her story on camera…” Read more…
KHQ / 04.03.21
Our very own Joe Huston and his team of Gonzaga law students recently took home “best brief in the nation” at the Saul Lefkowitz National Trademark Moot Court Competition. Congratulations, Joe! Read more…
Law360 / 03.25.21
“A group of sexual abuse claimants in the Boy Scouts of America’s Chapter 11 told the Delaware bankrtupcy court Wednesday the Scouts’ proposed reorganization plan lacks key details…” Read more…
New York Post / 08.15.20
“A beloved Bronx priest intentionally steered a boy to a known molester in the 1980s, leading to months of sexual abuse, according to a new lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court.” Read more…
New York Post / 07.25.20
“A convicted pedophile from the Bronx has been tutoring kids in Virginia — and one of his New York victims wants to make sure everyone knows it.” Read more…
North Country Now / 06.15.20
“Man suing Diocese of Ogdensburg over alleged sex abuse by priest.” | We are inspired by GF’s courage and look forward to bringing him justice and healing. Read more…
Pacific Daily News / 10.31.19
Idaho-based attorney Craig Vernon said speaking generally, “the fact that the first mediation was unsuccessful is historically consistent with Catholic bankruptcies across the United States.” Read more…
Pacific Daily News / 10.30.19
Idaho-based attorney Craig Vernon, working with attorney Anthony Perez in representing about a dozen Guam clergy sex abuse survivors, says the settlement conference is “the first step of hopefully getting some justice.” Read more…
KUTV / 10.16.19
Unlike Utah law, which allows adults who were victimized as children to sue… Read more…
Press Release / 10.15.19
For Immediate Release. California Governor Signs Child Victims Act, Paving Justice Path for Survivors of Sexual Abuse Starting January 1, 2020. Read more…
CBS / KREM2 Spokane / 9.23.19
A former North Idaho fire commissioner who was originally charged with raping a teenage firefighter trainee will spend three months in jail. Read more…
USA Today / 9.12.19
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, facing potentially huge judgments for past sexual abuse by its priests and other ministers, filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday. Read more…
13 ABC WHAM / 9.12.19
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester filed for bankruptcy Thursday morning, less than one month after dozens of lawsuits were filed against clergy. Read more…
WSKG | NPR | PBS / 5.10.19
Pope Francis issued new church regulations this week that will change the way that the Catholic Church handles sexual abuse claims internally. Read more…
Fox Salt Lake City / 5.6.19
A federal judge indicated he will order The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to disclose to him the identity of a potential second accuser in a lawsuit alleging a rape at the Missionary Training Center. Read more…
The Hoya / 3.15.19
’A Lion in the Zoo’: Former GU Grad Student Ferretti Abused Dozens over Decades. Read more…
CBS News / 3.5.19
A new documentary about two men who say Michael Jackson molested them for years is shedding light on why child sex abuse survivors may not come forward. Read more…
Democrat & Chronicle / 2.28.19
After decades of anguish and argument over sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, a final reckoning may be coming for New York parishioners.. Read more…
Pacific Daily News / 11.7.18
Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes announced on Wednesday that the Archdiocese of Agana will file for bankruptcy to help settle nearly 200 clergy sex abuse claims by former altar boys. Read more…
Fox Salt Lake City / 9.24.18
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has settled a series of lawsuits filed by a group of people alleging they were sexually abused within a church-run program for Native American children. Read more…
NBC News / 6.1.18
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has agreed to a $210 million settlement with 450 victims of clergy sexual abuse as part of its plan for bankruptcy reorganization, making it the second-largest U.S. payout in the scandal that rocked the nation’s Roman Catholic Church. Read more…
Associated Press / 4.27.18
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Great Falls-Billings reached a $20-million agreement to settle claims by 86 people who said they were sexually abused as children by clergy employed by the Montana diocese dating back to the 1950s… Read more…
Huffington Post / 4.5.18
A woman who accused a former Mormon leader of rape filed a civil lawsuit against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Wednesday, claiming the church did not properly respond when she reported the abuse decades ago. Read more…
Coeur d’Alene Press / 2.16.16
Nearly seven months after the drowning of 16-year-old Reggie Nault on Lake Coeur d’Alene, no charges have been filed related to the death and the Boundary County Prosecutor’s Office is reviewing the case. Read more…
Coeur d’Alene Press / 2.12.16
A lawsuit filed Wednesday claims a child was sexually abused by his father, while leaders of a Mennonite church in Bonners Ferry failed to protect the boy. Read more…
The Spokesman-Review / 2.12.16
A lawsuit filed Wednesday claims a child was sexually abused by his father, while leaders of a Mennonite church in Bonners Ferry failed to protect the boy.The lawsuit was filed late Wednesday by attorneys with the Coeur d’Alene firm of James, Vernon and Weeks. It states Clayton Peaster was 11 when the alleged molestation occurred. Read more…
KXLY / 2.11.16
Clayton Peaster is suing the local and national church of the Holdeman Mennonites. The Holdeman Mennonites have a policy to bring wrongdoings forward to church leaders before authorities, and these church leaders are not trained in dealing with sexual abuse victims or children. Clayton hopes that in going after the church at a national level he can change this policy for the better. Read more…
The Independent Record / 1.18.16
Some say preventing future sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic clergy may depend on ending the requirement for celibacy and allowing women into the priesthood. But if that’s not likely to happen any time soon, then strict screening and psychological testing of those seeking ordination might be the best way to prevent future crimes by clergy against children. Read more…
The Independent Record / 1.17.16
Helena Bishop George Leo Thomas held prayer services in seven Montana communities last year in the wake of a nearly $21 million settlement to resolve claims by about 380 people who accused the Diocese of Helena of sexual abuse. Read more…
Catholic Order Reaches $166 Million Settlement With Sexual Abuse Victims
A Roman Catholic religious order in the Northwest has agreed to pay $166 million to more than 500 victims of sexual abuse, many of whom are American Indians and Alaska Natives who were abused decades ago at Indian boarding schools and in remote villages, lawyers for the plaintiffs said Friday. Read more …
