January 29, 2019
PORTLAND, OR –
A new civil lawsuit was filed today in Multnomah County Circuit Court against Portland’s elite private Catlin Gabel School. The suit alleges claims of sexual abuse, negligence and fraud against the private school on behalf of four victims of child sexual abuse by four different staff members.
The victims in today’s lawsuit are represented by attorneys Peter Janci and Stephen Crew of Portland-based law firm Crew Janci LLP,which specializes in high-profile child sexual abuse cases across the U.S. Just this week, news media reported the Crew Janci LLP had successfully resolved claims on behalf of 13 more victims of child sexual abuse at the elite Pingry School in New Jersey – bringing the total number of victims Crew Janci has successfully represented in that case to 34.
Crew Janci LLP has teamed up with attorney Megan Johnson of Picket Dummigan & McCall LLP to represent victims of abuse at from Catlin Gabel. Johnson is a former Washington County District Attorney who prosecuted sex crimes for fifteen years. Notably, Johnson prosecuted Catlin Gabel coach Deonte Tavon Huff in 2013 on criminal charges of second-degree sex abuse and luring a minor in connection with three Catlin Gabel students. https://www.oregonlive.com/north-of-26/2013/12/former_catlin_gabel_coach_admi.html
Today’s lawsuit alleges abuse by four now-former Catlin Gabel staff. Three of those staff members were named in the “executive summary” of the findings of Catlin Gabel’s internal investigation, released by the school in December of 2019. The suit also alleges abuse by a staffer not identified by name in the report: Roy Stubbs, a former choir director for the Catlin Gabel school in approximately 1981 or 1982.
According the lawsuit, Roy Stubbs “provided illegal drugs” to one of the victims, “including but not limited to . . . nitrous oxide and marijuana.” The suit alleges Stubbs made sexual comments and propositions to the boy, encouraged him to engage in sexual contact with Stubbs, touched his thigh, exposed his penis to the boy, touched the victim’s penis on several occasions, and masturbated in the boy’s presence.
“We don’t know whether Catlin Gabel previously received information about Roy Stubbs, because Catlin Gabel has yet to publicly identify all of the accused staff members. But we have obtained information from multiple former students indicating that Stubbs engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior with minor students,” said attorney Stephen Crew, one of the attorneys for the victims.
The suit also includes abuse allegations against three perpetrators that were named in the School’s investigative report. Those include: Richardson Shoemaker, Mark Petersen, and Stephen Richmond.
To read the whole story, visit: https://www.crewjanci.com/catlin-gabel-school-sexual-abuse-new-lawsuit-jan-2019/
