First Sexual Abuse Lawsuits Detailed Today Under Maryland's New Child Victims Act

Justice-seeking survivors cite horrific serial abuse by priests and prep school teachers in separate filings

BALTIMORE, Sept. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Horrifically abused as children decades ago, tormented throughout their emotionally fractured lives, today five courageous survivors are among the first to file catastrophic injury lawsuits under Maryland's new Child Victims Act of 2023. Their signed complaints will be officially filed with the courts Sunday, October 1st, when the CVA becomes effective. Meantime, the plaintiffs, and their long delayed search for justice, were the focus of a joint press conference presented by attorneys from Jenner Law, Grant & Eisenhofer, and Baird, Mandalas, Brockstedt & Federico. 

Robert K. Jenner (Jenner Law), Steven J. Kelly (Grant & Eisenhofer), and Phil Federico, (BMB&F), and members of their team hailed the filings in the following statement: "This is what courage, aimed at obtaining justice through the courts, looks like; it's what state legislators intended when they fought hard, then passed the CVA, and the Governor signed it into law. True justice, not merely thoughts and prayers, is no longer elusive for these first filers and all those that follow; we are humbled and proud to represent them as they seek accountability – including restitution for their injuries and a life of pain and suffering - from those responsible for their devastating and destructive abuse." 

The five first-to-file plaintiffs-survivors are:

• Kimberly Mills-Bonham, 62, Eva Dittrich, 68, (former parishioners of the Archdiocese of Baltimore) and David Schappelle, 46 (former Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. parishioner)
• Valerie Bunker, 64, Carolyn Surrick, 64 (former students at the Key School, Annapolis, Maryland)

The attorneys, along with Kurt Wolfgang, Executive Director of the Maryland Crime Victims Resource Center (MCVRC), and advocates Gemma ('The Keepers') Hoskins, and David Lorenz of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), acknowledged the historic significance of the present and future filings by the countless survivors finally allowed to seek redress from their perpetrators, and those that enabled their monstrous, sexual predation. The news conference in its entirety is available at www.facebook.com/jennerlawpc/. 

In addition to the attorneys noted above, the legal team includes Kathleen Kerner, Mary Beth Diaz, paralegal (Jenner Law); Beth Graham, Suzanne Sangree, Gordon Novod (G&E); Brent Ceryes, Wray Fitch and Catherine Cramer (BMB&F). The firms acknowledge the support and encouragement of clergy abuse survivor, Frank Schindler, who attended the press conference.

SOURCE Jenner Law