A local Mormon man filed a suit on Monday, November 16, seeking $5
million in emotional and psychological damages from the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The case claims the man was
sexually abused by a Woodburn Mormon temple organist during his
teen years in the late 1970s, and that his bishop did not inform law
enforcement about the abuse when it was discovered. “If law enforcement
is involved, the kid gets counseling,” says case lawyer Kelly
Clark. “He has really, really struggled. The emotion and the
sadness just ooze out of him.” The suit is part of a three-city,
five-victim case against the Mormon Church, alleging similar abuse
and cover-ups occurred in Seattle and San Francisco. Church
attorney Steve English says the Mormon Church “absolutely
condemns child abuse” and “sympathizes with the victims of whatever
happened.” SARAH MIRK
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Attorney General John Kroger has finally hired two
environmental prosecutors to lead his plan to pursue criminal charges
against companies that harm the state’s environment [“Kroger vs.
the Willamette,” News, Oct 8]. Stephanie Parent and Patrick Flanagan,
former environmental attorneys with the federal government and US
National Park Service, respectively, will lead the Department of
Justice’s new Environmental Crimes Unit. Flanagan previously
worked as a wildland firefighter, before taking the bar in 2004, while
Parent managed the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center at Lewis &
Clark Law School from 1999 to 2007. MATT DAVIS