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METHUEN, Mass., May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The Boston firm law of Stanzler
Levine, LLC (http://www.stanzlerlevine.com), has brought suit in Lawrence
Superior Court against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Stanzler Levine represents the mother of a young boy sexually assaulted at
the Mormon Church in Methuen, Massachusetts. The complaint alleges that the
Church, located at 39 Hill Avenue, permitted a man with a criminal record
including prior acts of sexual abuse to act as the Church's babysitter. The
Complaint further alleges that after the mother notified Church officials
of the abuse, the officials, rather than immediately reporting the incident
to the authorities as required by Massachusetts Law, attempted to silence
the mother in order to avoid bad publicity. In order to protect the boy
from further harm, the suit has been filed under the name "John Doe."

    The boy's mother, whose name is also kept confidential in order to
protect her son's identity, stated, "I brought this action only after it
became came clear that the Church's concern was not with my son's welfare,
but with protecting themselves from bad publicity." A convert to Mormonism
twenty years ago, the boy's mother left the Church after reporting the
abuse to Church officials in the fall of 2005. "I was horrified that after
I told the Church officials about the abuse, they still allowed the
perpetrator free reign at the Church, and my son was terrified." The boy
suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and is in therapy to help deal
with the trauma.

    After authorities were finally notified in late December 2005, the
perpetrator, Kevin Curlew was arrested and confessed. In June of 2006,
Curlew was sentenced to 9 to 10 years and he is currently serving his
sentence at MCI Cedar Junction. During the investigation, the Methuen
police also arrested another Church volunteer, Peter Paquette, for failing
to register as a sex offender. Methuen police detectives also complained
that the Church had not been cooperating with the investigation, and it had
been nearly two weeks after Curlew's arrest before the Church turned over
its member list for the Methuen ward.