Woman: Church unsympathetic to abuse claims

Fairbanks, Alaska -

The first woman to file a sexual abuse lawsuit against Rev. James Poole broke her silence Wednesday after lawyers representing the four defendants filed motions in Superior Court to have the case dismissed.

Jane Doe 1, who asked that her identity and specific details of her life be withheld, told reporters from the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Daily News that the motion was just the latest example of unsympathetic treatment by the Catholic Church hierarchy since she came forward with allegations of nearly a decade of sexual abuse.

"They're petitioning to dismiss my case," Jane Doe said from the office of her Anchorage attorney, Ken Roosa. "That's appalling to me because they know the truth."

Jane Doe accused Poole of kissing, touching and fondling her from the age of 10 to 19, mostly in Nome where Poole ministered and ran radio station KNOM. Since she filed suit in March 2004, two other women have come forward with allegations of abuse against Poole.

Read the article at news-miner.com dated Thursday, January 13, 2005

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