BishopAccountability.org
	Lawyer Drops Repressed Memory Bid in Suit against Boys Town Associated Press, carried in Pioneer Press [Omaha NE] December 10, 2005 OMAHA, Neb. - Weeks after a judge declared that repressed memories are not reliable enough for filing claims of sexual abuse, a lawyer said he will not use the claim in a similar case against Boys Town. Minnesota attorney Patrick Noaker said he made the move this past week, dropping the repressed memory argument in James Duffy's federal lawsuit against Girls and Boys Town, based in Omaha. Noaker's bid to use the claim in another case was thrown out by Douglas County District Court Judge Sandra Dougherty in late November. She ruled that expert testimony claiming Todd Rivers of Omaha had repressed memories of abuse at Boys Town could not be presented at trial. Rivers' expert, Dougherty said, did not prove that such a diagnosis is scientifically valid. Noaker, of St. Paul, Minn., said he withdrew the claim because he expected the same result from a similar hearing for Duffy's case scheduled for later this month. James Martin Davis, an attorney for Boys Town, said it was obvious why Noaker did not go forward with the claim. "He didn't want to lose again," Davis said. Duffy, of Tucson, Ariz., filed the lawsuit in January 2001, charging that a Boys Town priest and counselor separately abused him physically and sexually on multiple occasions in the late 1970s. Girls and Boys Town had asked a federal judge in April 2003 to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that the time passed between the alleged incidents and the filing of charges exceeded the statute of limitations. That motion was denied in September 2003. Noaker said he will file a motion for a summary judgment in Duffy's case, which would bring about a prompt disposition without a lengthy trial. A hearing for a summary judgment for Rivers is set for Jan. 27. There are at least four separate lawsuits filed against Girls and Boys Town. Last year, the home's executive director at the time, the Rev. Val J. Peter, said an extensive Boys Town investigation revealed no evidence to back up the allegations.