New lawsuit alleges sex abuse at school

A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of eight men who claim they were the victims of "horrific" physical and sexual abuse at the now-defunct Briscoe Memorial School, an orphanage and day school that operated in Kent.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in King County Superior Court, claims that vulnerable boys were abused at Briscoe under the supervision of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle and the Congregation of Christian Brothers, a Catholic order.

The suit is the fourth filed by local attorney Michael Pfau against the order and the archdiocese, representing the claims of 38 men.

The most recent suit also contends that a ninth plaintiff was sexually abused at O'Dea High School in Seattle in the mid-1970s, and that the high school took no action against the alleged abuser even after that boy's parents told the school about it. The Christian Brothers operate O'Dea.

The current principal of O'Dea said that he has no knowledge about what may have happened before his tenure but that for more than a decade the archdiocese has required background checks of school staff members and ongoing education for both faculty and students.

"My concern is with the safety of the current students and, fortunately, our radar is up now," said the principal, Brother Dominic Murray.

A spokesman for the archdiocese, Greg Magnoni, said Friday that the archdiocese was not responsible for Briscoe, as it was managed by the Christian Brothers.

"We regret any incident of sexual abuse against a young person," Magnoni said, "but we believe that the Christian Brothers have responded properly."

Pfau contends, however, that the archdiocese did maintain responsibility for Briscoe. "They hired the Christian Brothers to teach, but it was their school," he said.

The lawsuit claims that the eight boys were abused at the hands of authority figures at Briscoe between 1950 and 1970, when the school closed. According to the suit, boys at the orphanage were routinely molested and regularly beaten with sticks, leather straps and paddles.

"They were abused by a Roman Catholic priest who served as the resident priest at the school. They were abused by the Christian Brothers. They were abused by cooks and by the night watchmen," Pfau said.

Briscoe was opened nearly 100 years ago by the bishop of what was then the Diocese of Nisqually to care for orphans and troubled boys. After several years, the lawsuit claims, the bishop asked the Christian Brothers to run the school's teaching operations.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com