From my inbox to your eyeballs: Here’s a statement from the Episcopal School of Dallas on today’s criminal sentencing of John Nathan Campbell.  Read More…

David Clohessy, Sarah Box, and Lisa Kendzior called for better treatment of victims of sexual abuse.

Standing in front of the sign for the Episcopal School of Dallas, David Clohessy asked the school to reconsider its decision to appeal a $9.2 million verdict handed down last week.

“All that will do is drag these families through more pain and suffering,” said Clohessy, the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “[ESD] will be saying that its reputation and assets are more important than your child’s safety.” Read More…

This is old hat by now, but because of production schedules, the ESD story in this week’s edition of Preston Hollow People is a bit truncated.

If you want the 1,000 word version of the ESD verdict, and not the 300 word version, then pick up a copy of Park Cities People at any of these fine locations.

In an email to ESD parents sent yesterday after compensatory damages were awarded, board chairman John Eagle said an appellate team had been in courtroom for 10 weeks, which is the entire length of the trial. He also said the school’s “policies and procedures went a long way in protecting the students.” Go to the jump for the full text. Read More…

Making the grand total of compensatory and punitive damages awarded to the Doe family just above $9 million.

ESD Board Chairman John Eagle said he disagreed with the verdict.

“The verdict was wrong,” he said. Read More…

Charla Aldous, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, presented an impassioned closing argument during the brief trial preceding the award for punitive damages. She maintained the $8.5 million ruling was not sufficient.

“What you’ve done is compensate the [Does], but what you have not done is send a message to ESD,” Aldous said, adding, “This child was discarded like a piece of trash.”

Aldous went back to the email head of upper school Erin Mayo wrote the day Jane was forced to leave ESD. In the much-publicized correspondence from Mayo to Rebecca Royall’s assistant, Mayo wrote, “I don’t want the girl haunting the hallways with her sad story for the rest of the week.”

“That is the kind of character and conduct that needs to be punished,” Aldous said.

ESD is held to a particularly high standard, Aldous said, because of their religious mission.

“This is a Christian school that is headed up by a member of the clergy, who is supposed to conduct his life as Christ conducted his,” Aldous said.

Aldous got even more emotional than usual as she thanked the jury for what they had done for the Does with the ruling. Then, she asked the ladies of the jury to deliver a message to ESD.

“We’re going to hit you where it hurts, and that’s your big, fat pocketbook,” she said. “You will know you can never do this to another child.”

ESD attorney Chrysta Castaneda told the jury ESD received the message loud and clear.

“Your voice has been heard,” Castaneda said. “The message has already had an impact.”

Castaneda said ESD was in uncharted waters when it dealt with Jane’s forced separation after being sexually abused by her teacher.

“They did their best in their minds to try to take care of [Jane],” she said.

As of 2:45 p.m., the jury had not come back from the punitive phase.

When John Eagle took the stand in the punitive stage of a family’s civil suit against the Episcopal School of Dallas, he promised changes.

ESD’s lead counsel Chrysta Castaneda asked Eagle if he planned to amend the school’s expulsion policy.

“Yes, ma’am,” Eagle said. “It’s a continuing process.”

Eagle’s plans include setting up a committee to look at “best practices” from other private schools in regard to expulsion. He said that separation from a school “is always a tough decision.”

“Anytime someone gets expelled, someone is unhappy,” Eagle said, adding. “But we can come up with a process that’s a little more thoughtful and careful.”

Eagle would not say whether Father Stephen Swann, Rebecca Royall, or Erin Mayo would be fired as a result of their actions. He pledged to investigate all three employees’ involvement in Jane’s forced withdrawal. Swann, Royall, and Mayo (who are the headmaster, chief academic officer, and head of upper school, respectively) testified that they were the only three people who signed off on the decision.

“If there was some way I could’ve taken this back, I would’ve,” Eagle said.

The jury has ruled that ESD committed fraud and was grossly negligent. Estimated damages are $8.5 million, pending further testimony. The jury ruled that while ESD is a charity, it’s not subject to the $500,000 charitable immunity cap.

Right now, the punitive portion of the trial is in recess. A few of the charges that ESD was not found liable for include:

• ESD is not liable for failing to prevent to the assault of Jane Doe II.
• ESD’s negligence did not cause the relationship between Nathan Campbell and Jane.
• ESD did not fail to properly monitor Campbell and other employees while on school property.
• ESD did not fail to oversee the safety of its students while on campus.

In other news, the jury found ESD 40 percent responsible for the Doe’s damages, and Campbell was 60 percent responsible. Of course, the only party on trial right now is ESD.

Clarification: The jury did find ESD negligent for failing to properly “hire, train, or retain teachers” and to ensure they understood “limitations on personal interactions with students.” They did not find ESD liable for Jane’s actual, physical sexual assault, but they did find them liable for the conditions that led to it, with respect to proper teacher training.

Here we go again. Yesterday was pretty eventful in the comments section, and we didn’t even have a verdict. My plan is to make it the courthouse by 9 so I can see if Stephen Swann and John Eagle show up as their subpoenas required.

The jury is scheduled to arrive at 9:30.

Updates after the jump as soon as available.
Read More…

Alright gang, thus begins my second day of pacing in the courthouse, waiting out a verdict in the civil suit against the Episcopal School of Dallas.

Channel 5 has joined me, and I’m thankful for the company. Looks like this trial is going to get some more diversified media coverage.

I’ll update as soon as I have more information.

Read More…