Confidential
Settlement – $17,050,000Judge
Court
Alameda Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
R. Lewis Van Blois
(Van Blois Law)
Defendant
Robert A. Clifford
(Clifford Law Offices PC)
Experts
Plaintiff
Phillip H. Allman III, Ph.D.
(technical)
Jules Burstein
(medical)
Frederick D. Rosenthal
(medical)
Defendant
Paul S.D. Berg
(medical)
James R. Missett
(medical)
John D. Hancock
(John D. Hancock Law Group PLLC)
(technical)
Facts
The plaintiff, Mark Bogdanowicz, was sexually molested by his parish priest, Father Robert Freitas, in 1979 and 1980 when Bogdanowicz was a devoutly religious 15-year-old boy. Freitas had ready access to the plaintiff at the Santa Paula Parish in Fremont. In addition to attending mass and youth activities at the parish, the plaintiff served as an altar boy, sacristan, and was elected to the parish council. Defendant Freitas used these opportunities of access to sexually molest the plaintiff in the church, in his private quarters in the rectory and during a youth ministry retreat. The plaintiff contended that he suffered devastating, lifelong emotional impacts from these attacks and from Freitas' abuse of his spiritual authority. The defendant, Father Robert Freitas, denied that he had molested the plaintiff. The defendant Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland denied that it had actual knowledge that Father Freitas had molested anyone prior to 1983 when the third boy who had been molested by Freitas reported it to the diocese. The defendant denied that they had negligently supervised Freitas because they had no prior knowledge of any molestations.
Settlement Discussions
There were two full day mediations. The plaintiff's demand was $825,000. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland offered $150,000. After two weeks of trial, the defendant increased his offer to $350,000, and the plaintiff increased his demand to $1,050,000. The defendant diocese agreed to the settlement. After the settlement, the jury was dismissed and the trial proceeded against Father Robert Freitas who represented himself in the court trial. During cross-examination, Freitas admitted to molesting the plaintiff. Thereafter, a stipulated judgment of $16 million was entered against Freitas. The case settled on the eight day of trial.
Damages
The plaintiff will require therapy for approximately five years at a cost of approximately $50,000. The plaintiff started college but left to join the Navy because of confusion resulting from the molestation and other factors. If he would have completed two years or four years of college, the difference in wages would have been approximately $250,000 to $385,000. The plaintiff contended that the molestation led him into a reckless lifestyle that resulted in him becoming HIV positive, resulting in AIDS.
Injuries
The plaintiff alleged that the suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, onset delayed and depression as a result of the sexual molestation. The defense experts contended that the plaintiff had many disturbing lifetime experiences that were the cause of his symptoms and the molestation was not a significant cause of his injuries.
Other Information
Defendant Robert Freitas is in pro per.
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