Superior Court Judge Makes Landmark (JW) Church Abuse Ruling

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Superior Court Judge Makes Landmark (JW) Church Official Abuse Ruling


By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Associated Press Writer
Source of Article

BOSTON— A Superior Court judge has ruled that a Jehovah's Witness church in Boston can be sued for breaking its trust and legal duty to a girl who claims she was sexually abused by one of the church's ministerial servants.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Herman Smith Jr.'s ruling earlier this month is believed to be the first time a Massachusetts court has ruled that church officials have a "fiduciary duty" to members of their congregation. Lawyers and doctors already owe a similar legal responsibility to their clients and patients.

Smith's ruling also is expected to open another legal channel for attorneys to bring civil suits against churches for clergy abuse cases, according to Lisa Bruno, news editor for Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

"It gives another piece of ammunition to plaintiffs, another grounds for finding a church liable for the actions of priests and ministers," Bruno said.

Carmen Durso, a Boston lawyer who settled 40 lawsuits against the Catholic Boston Archdiocese in 2003, said he expects Smith's ruling to pave the way for more clergy abuse cases to proceed.

"It affords another basis, a stronger basis, for bringing claims against churches in sex abuse cases," Durso said.

"There have been a number of rulings that have gone the other way," he added. "We had pretty much given up on this issue."

The girl at the center of Smith's ruling was between 9 and 11 when her alleged assailant, a ministerial servant with the Columbus Park Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, molested her, during Bible study classes in her home, Lawyers Weekly reported.

The girl's parents, who learned about the alleged abuse in August 2000, sued the ministerial servant and two Boston-area Jehovah's Witness congregations for negligence as well as breach of fiduciary duty.