Nuns accused of child abuse at Boston school for deaf

Published: 2004-05-13

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Nine former students at the now-closed Boston School for the Deaf filed a lawsuit May 11 against the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston claiming that nuns who staffed the school abused them physically, emotionally and sexually. The plaintiffs, now ages 41 to 67 years old, allege that they were abused in a variety of ways while they were students at the school between 1944 and 1977. The alleged abuse ranged from rape or fondling of genitals to locking children in closets for hours. One plaintiff said her head was submerged in a toilet until she passed out. Mitchell Garabedian, attorney for the plaintiffs, said additional lawsuits by other former students would follow. Named in the suit were 13 nuns, two priests and an athletic instructor. The suit cited additional defendants whose identities were unknown. Some of the defendants were not accused of abuse, but were named because of their supervisory positions. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston administered and staffed the school, which was owned by an independent nonprofit corporation, from its founding in 1899 until it closed in 1994.

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