Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

A driver charged with sexual assault on a Chicago school bus had been the subject of a previous allegation made by a teenage girl, the Breaking News Center reported.

The 27-year-old driver remains in Cook County Jail on $750,000 bond after being charged in January with aggravated criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual assault. He also faces charges of kidnapping and unlawful restraint.

In March 2009, a 17-year-old special education student said the defendant took her to a secluded area and sexually assaulted her. Two months later, he reportedly threatened to kill her for reporting him to police. At that time, he was reportedly fired but nevertheless was able to renew his permit to drive a school bus. On Jan. 8, he allegedly attempted to assault another school girl while driving a bus.

The mothers of the teenage girls are livid that the man was permitted near students even as the first allegations were being investigated. The Chicago school system contracts with about 20 busing companies, which employ hundreds of drivers to run more than 2,000 daily routes. These companies are largely charged with policing themselves and numerous complaints of sexual assaults on Chicago school buses have surfaced in the past several years.

Earlier this year, Chicago sex abuse lawyers at Abels & Annes filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against First Student Bus Company. That lawsuit alleges a 67-year-old bus driver sexually assaulted a female student despite having previously been dismissed as a bus driver from another company after female students complained of sexual harassment.

In this case, the Jewel's Bus Co. driver has denied the allegations against him. The defendant is related to the bus company's president, the News Center reported. A spokeswoman for the Chicago Public Schools says the company has been awarded more than $40 million in contracts in the past five years. Those contracts are now reportedly under review.

A spokeswoman for the school district said audits of bus drivers are conducted twice a year, but with more than 1,500 buses and nearly 2,000 drivers, "resources are extremely limited."

The sex abuse victim in the Jewel's case is being represented by Nilson, Stookal, Gleason & Caputo of Chicago and the bus company is represented by John J. Meehan, P.C., also of Chicago, in Cook County Case Number 2010-L-008665.

The Chicago injury lawyers at Abels & Annes, working as co-counsel with the law firm of Hilfman & Martin, have filed a church sex abuse lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Chicago, the Catholic Bishop of Chicago and Cardinal Francis George.

The lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of James C. Doe to protect the identity of the victim, accuses Catholic officials of failing to relieve Father Daniel McCormack of his official duties despite having information that McCormack had a history of abuse complaints dating back to his time in the seminary. The abuse in this case is alleged to have occurred while the boy was a middle-school student from 1999 to 2002 and continued through 2006 while the boy was in high school.

McCormack pleaded guilty in 2007 to charges that he abused five boys. He was sentenced to five years in prison and had been scheduled for release but officials have filed a lawsuit to keep him confined as a sexually violent person, ABC7 reported.

The lawsuit also accuses the Archdiocese, the Cardinal and the Catholic Bishop of failing to report McCormack's behavior to the police or to warn the public. And of destroying notes and records of McCormack's abuse of minors and fellow seminarians.

Instead, officials allowed him to be ordained as a priest and promoted through the system until he was named pastor of St. Agatha's Parish in 2000. The parish included a daycare program and a school campus that is part of Our Lady of the West Side. While at the parish, he was also a teacher and boy's basketball coach.

During his time at the church, McCormack sexually abused boys; church leaders failed to properly investigate complaints about the priest's behavior and did not inform authorities or parents of the allegations, according to the lawsuit. Church leaders also failed to notify school administrators and permitted McCormack to continue working with young boys.

Despite being arrested in 2005, Church leaders did not remove him from his position as pastor at St. Agatha's. A review board recommended to the Cardinal that McCormack be removed in mid October 2005, which the Cardinal rejected. He was finally removed in January 2006 when he was arrested a second time.

The lawsuit accuses the Archdiocese of Chicago, the Catholic Bishop of Chicago and Cardinal Francis George of 28 instances of breach of duty and failure to provide reasonable care.

Two priests in Joliet, Illinois have been removed for allegedly sexually abusing a student in the 1970s, according to the Herald-News. The abuse allegedly occurred at different times while the victim was a student at Providence Catholic in New Lenox and Joliet Catholic High School, which is now called Joliet Catholic Academy. The victim is now in his 40s and resides in Florida. The names of the victim or the priests have not been made public.

On Friday a news conference was held by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in Joliet. The investigation was made public a that time and Snap demanded more action be taken regarding the priests.

After the news conference, the Joliet diocese announced that the priests had been removed from the ministry.

SNAP is alleging that the abuse took place with one of the priests during a span of several years in many hotels, a rectory, and out of state. The abuse alleged against the other priest was for a single incident.

The victim has retained a lawyer, however a lawsuit has not been filed.

Click here to read the story as reported by the Southtown Star.

An Illinois man is suing Pope Benedict XVI and senior Vatican officials, claiming they failed to protect him from sexual assault as a teenager from a Wisconsin priest they knew was a possible child molester, the Chicago Breaking News Center reported.

The case is the latest in a long string of claims against the Catholic Church in the Chicago area and across the nation. As we reported on our Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog last summer, the church paid $3.9 million to settle with six victims who reported sexual abuse by priests.

Identified in court papers as John Doe 16, the man said he was repeatedly molested by a priest while a student at St. John's School for the deaf in the Milwaukee area.

The lawsuit claims the abuse occurred over a number of years and included incidents in which the priest solicited sex in the confessional. The priest taught at the school from 1950 until 1974. He died in 1998 and stands accused of sexually abusing some 200 boys at the school.

The charges against the priest recently drew renewed scrutiny after documents suggested that a Vatican office headed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger failed to aggressively discipline Murphy. Ratzinger is now the Pope.

John Doe 16 reported that he wrote two letters to the Vatican asking for help. Court documents suggest Vatican officials failed to discipline Murphy because he was a successful fundraiser.

A Vatican spokesman said previously that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was not informed of the Murphy case until 20 years after the diocese knew of the allegations. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is the office charged with investigating sex crimes by members of the clergy.

The Chicago Personal Injury Law Firm of Abels & Annes has filed a civil lawsuit against a 67-year-old Gompers Junior High School bus driver and First Student Bus Company, in connection with the December sexual assault of a female student.

CBS2 reported Wednesday that the driver was working at First Student despite being dismissed from his job as a Joliet Township bus driver. A police reported from that 2004 incident cites "complaints by student females for sexual harassment."

The 67-year-old bus driver was charged in December with battery of a 14-year-old girl after being accused of offering the girl candy, touch her chest and buttocks and giving her $3 not to tell.

Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Dave Abels and his partner Gary Annes filed a civil lawsuit against the driver and First Student Bus Company.

"I think that any parent would be shocked, horrified to hear that First Student is allowing people to, with these types of backgrounds, to drive their children," said Annes. Another police report says the defendant offered a girl candy, adusted his miror to stare at her and repeatedly asked for hugs.

"Someone dropped the ball here," Abels said.

Four other First Student drivers were in trouble with the law last year: One was arrested for exposing himself to a female student; one was caught with child pornography; and another driver was shot and killed by police after a high-speed chase in Riverdale.

The fourth driver was arrested for child endangerment and DUI after losing control of his bus on the Edens Expressway. That driver had been hired despite being fired from a previous job for driving erratically and failing a drug test, according to CBS2.

"I think private citizens have to stand up and say, 'Enough is enough. We're not going to allow our children to be subjected to this sort of danger,'" Annes said.

Continue reading "Chicago Injury Firm of Abels & Annes appear on CBS News for filing a sexual abuse lawsuit against Illinois school bus company" »

A Near West Side school bus driver is charged with the sexual assault of a high school girl who was the last person on his bus one day last spring, the Chicago Breaking News Center reported.

The 26-year-old West Madison Street defendant was ordered held on $50,000 bail in the Chicago sexual assault case for allegedly attacking a 17-year-old girl on March 24.

The paper reported he was already free on $50,000 for a related case in which he allegedly tried to intimidate the victim in the attack.

The defendant works for Jewel's Bus. Co. and appeared in court wearing his blue company jacket with his name over the right side of the chest, according to the News Center. As reported on Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog in September, a personal injury lawsuit and criminal charges were filed against another Jewel's Bus Co. driver in September in connection with the alleged kidnapping and sexual assault of a boy on his bus.

In this case, the girl was a student at a private South Side alternative school and was being driven home. The defendant is accused of pulling over and taking the girl to the back of the bus, where he fondled her and ordered her to perform sex acts on him. The girl was then driven home and immediately reported the assault. The incident occurred in the 8200 block of South Luella Avenue, according to police.

Since then, prosecutors allege the defendant has gone to the victim's home on three occasions, where he tried to intimidate her. In the most recent incident, authorities allege the defendant restrained the girl and threatened to beat her up.

He is slated to appear in court on Feb. 2, where he will appear on the criminal sexual assault charge.

A Chicago personal injury attorney has been filed a sex abuse lawsuit involving a child being kidnapped by a bus driver.

The suit, which was filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Thursday, alleges the boy was sexually assaulted while restrained on the bus by the driver. The family is seeking damages from the bus driver, the busing company and the Chicago Public School system, according the the Chicago Breaking News Center.

The bus driver was charged with kidnapping the boy from Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side, according to a report last week in the Chicago Tribune.

Police reported that the 67-year-old Jewels Bus Company driver was arrested and charged following the Tuesday Sept. 15 incident. Authorities reported that the boy was supposed to be dropped off Tuesday morning at the Murray Language Academy in Hyde Park, but the driver detained him on the bus for several hours.

The boy was drooped off at his house about 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to a Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman.

Based on a statement the boy provided to investigators, he was taken by police for an examination by doctors at University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital, according to the Sun-Times.

Chicago police and Chicago Public School officials had been investigating alleged "inappropriate behavior" by the driver, according to the Sun-Times.

The lawsuit was filed by attorney Rahsaan A. Gordon of Chicago.

In Chicago, Illinois two women have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Archdiocese of Chicago and a retired priest for sexual abuse that allegedly occurred over forty years ago, according to chicagobreakingnews.com. The case has been pending in mediation and their lawyer filed the lawsuit due to the fact that one of the victims is dying of cancer. The lawyer and victim advocates are calling for an expedited settlement.

The victims' lawyer, who is based out of Seattle, is stating that the Church has refused to settle. Yesterday he held a news conference across the street from Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago.

The priest named as a defendant, Anthony Vader, was removed from his public duties in 2003 when the Church acknowledged his misconduct. The lawsuit alleges that one woman was molested from age 9 until age 14. The other claims abuse when she was under 13, and again when she was 17. The suit also alleges the archdiocese has treated African American victims differently than other races. The alleged abuse took place in the mid to late 1960s.

Click here to read the entire story.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has reportedly agreed to pay $12,675,000 to settle 16 sexual abuse claims for the conduct of 11 different priests, according to the Chicago Tribune and several other news sources. The settlements include two victims of Father Daniel McCormack, a former priest who is currently incarcerated for abusing five boys. McCormack plead guilty last year and he is serving a 5 year prison sentence.

Four out of five of McCormack's known victims have now settled with the Archdiocese of Chicago. Abels & Annes, P.C. represents the final known McCormack victi, acting as co-counsel with the firm of Hilfman, Martin & Barr P.C. in a lawsuit against the Archdiosese of Chicago. The case is pending in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Case No. 07 L 001504.

Former priests involved in today's settlement have been identified as McCormack, Joseph Bennett, Norbert Maday, Robert Mayer, James Hagan, Robert Craig, Robert Becker, Thomas Kelly, James Steel, Joseph Owens and Kenneth Ruge. The cases involve abuse from as far back as the 1960s and as recent as 2006. All the priests have been removed from their church positions.

David Abels & Associates, P.C. is currently acting as co-counsel with the firm of Hilfman, Martin & Barr P.C. in a lawsuit against the Archdiosese of Chicago relating to the sexual misconduct of Father Daniel McCormack. Last week the Court heard the Plaintiff's Motion To File an Amended Complaint Seeking Punitive Damages against the defendants. This motion was argued by Bill Martin. The Honorable Jeffrey Lawrence denied the motion, but Judge Lawrence said that he would be willing to hear the motion again after the parties complete some discovery.

The Court focused on the information contained in the report of the Archdiocese's consultant, Defenbaugh, and specifically commented on 1999 reports from Sister Mary Therese Cusack to the Archdiocese relating to improper conduct by McCormack. The court indicated that the allegations in the plaintiff's motion may be sufficient to allow the plaintiff to pursue punitive damages, but that these allegations required additional legal evidence in the form of depositions or affidavits. Plaintiff's counsel intends to take the depositions of Archdiocesan personnel and to resubmit this motion to the court.

Daniel McCormack has plead guilty in criminal court to abusing five boys. He is serving a five year prison sentence.

Continue reading "In Dan McCormack Sex Abuse Lawsuit Against Archdiosese, Judge Denies Punitive Damages Motion - Willing To Reconsider Issue After Further Discovery" »