4 More Sex Abuse Suits Name Pueblo Diocese

Associated Press/June 16, 2006

Pueblo, Colorado -- Four more former students at a Catholic high school have filed suit in Pueblo County District Court alleging they were sexually abused by a teacher at least 35 years ago.

The actions, filed this week, bring to 21 the number of suits that claim students at Roncalli High School were sexually assaulted by teacher William Mueller, a former member of the Marianist religious order.

Most claim Mueller subdued them with ether under the pretense of a secret, scientific experiment.

The latest suits name Roman Catholic Diocese of Pueblo and the Marianist Province of the United States. The plaintiffs are identified only as John Doe Nos. 14 through 17.

Roncalli closed in 1971.

Mueller, 67, voluntarily left the Marianist order in 1986 and now lives in San Antonio. He has denied sexual misconduct.

The diocese and the order also have denied wrongdoing in the way they handled Mueller's case.