Man wants new trial in alleged abuse at Boys Town

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By ANNA JO BRATTON / The Associated Press

OMAHA — Allegations of sexual abuse at Boys Town, the celebrated home for troubled youngsters, will be resurrected in court when attorneys argue that a “sideshow” of inflammatory comments and inappropriate evidence tainted the first trial.

John Sturzenegger sued Boys Town and Glenn Moore, a former counselor, accusing Moore of sexually abusing him in 1997, when Sturzenegger was a 14-year-old resident.

A jury in 2006 ruled against Sturzenegger, who sought up to $1 million in damages in Douglas County District Court.

The state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments May 28 on Sturzenegger’s appeal.

Jurors in the 2006 trial heard testimony of Sturzenegger’s behavior at Boys Town, including stealing candy bars, taking a pair of panties and refusing to do his chores, “things that bore no relevance whatsoever to whether or not John was molested by Moore,” according to the appeal.

The defense was “a smear campaign facilitated to convince the jury to disregard the evidence before it and punish John because he was a bad boy, irrespective of whether or not he was molested,” according to the appeal.

In a reply brief, Boys Town attorney James Martin Davis said Sturzenegger hated Boys Town and would do anything to get out, disliked Moore because he was black, and suffered from an anti-social personality disorder.

Davis said that in the absence of other evidence, Sturzenegger’s character was central to the case.

“Of course it was an attack on his credibility,” Davis said Thursday. “That’s what the case was about — the credibility.”

But Theodore Boecker, Sturzenegger’s attorney, said Davis went too far, calling Sturzenegger and his attorneys liars, telling jurors they were wasting everyone’s time to try to make money, and that they lacked “all notions of decency and morality.”

“I think the cumulative effect of Mr. Davis’ statements would have affected the jury,” Boecker said Thursday.

Sturzenegger said Moore fondled him and offered him money to run around naked, expose himself and masturbate.

Boecker said a polygraph examination around the time of the trial indicated Sturzenegger was telling the truth.

Sturzenegger volunteered to submit to an exam when he first reported the abuse in 1997 — a few months after it allegedly took place — but authorities never administered the test. Moore was asked to take the exam but declined, according to the appeal.

But the judge wouldn’t let attorneys mention that Moore refused to take a polygraph test, that Sturzenegger volunteered to take the test or that he passed a later test.

Then, during the trial, Sturzenegger said there was information he wasn’t allowed to share when Davis asked him to prove he wasn’t lying. Davis demanded to know what it was, and Sturzenegger talked about the polygraph he took and the one Moore didn’t.

Sturzenegger’s attorneys said they should have been able to talk about the polygraph tests, especially after Davis caused it to be brought up.

The courts are clear, Davis said, that even a person’s refusal or willingness to take a polygraph exam is inadmissible in court.

The judge also told attorneys they couldn’t talk about the financial impact the verdict would have on Boys Town.

But in Davis’ closing argument, he said Sturzenegger “is asking you to take a million dollars away from those 435 kids and put it in his pocket,” according to the appeal.

Moore left Boys Town in the fall of 1997 for unrelated reasons, Davis said, and now works for the city of Omaha.

“He’s put it behind him,” Davis said. “He’s happy the case is over.”

Boys Town, which operates 19 programs in 15 states, has worked with troubled children since it was founded by the Rev. Edward J. Flanagan in 1917.

Sturzenegger’s case was the only one of five recent sexual abuse lawsuits filed against Boys Town that went to trial. The other four were dismissed — two because a judge found that the plaintiffs filed them too late, one because of plaintiff inaction and another because the accuser’s attorney said his client’s mental illness prevented him from continuing the case.