Nov. 20--Long after the criminal case against former Colorado Springs police officer Joshua Carrier is resolved, lawsuits will continue to replay the stunning allegations of up to 22 middle school-age boys.
That's the nightmare facing the city and Colorado Springs School District 11 as plaintiff's attorneys mount a push to discover who knew what, when -- and promise to air their investigations at trial.
"It'll be like resurrecting the Phoenix from the ashes" said Peter Klismet, an associate professor of criminal justice at Pikes Peak Community College.
Carrier, 30, was released on a $500,000 bond this month and is awaiting a March 12 trial on nearly 200 felony sex-offense counts.
Prosecutors allege the former cop fondled or otherwise abused the Mann Middle School children as a volunteer coach during wrestling team "skin checks" and in searching them for contraband in his capacity as a school resource officer. He is accused of videotaping some of the assaults.
The seven-year veteran resigned in June as police and prosecutors were still finalizing their tally of his alleged victims.
Earlier this month, local attorney Rick Levinson said in a notice of claim he is seeking at least $1 million for each of the 13 accusers he represents. Attorney Ed Farry has said he is representing at least one other alleged victim.
Among the people named in Levinson's Oct. 5 claim are Carrier, former police chief Richard Myers; city Chief of Staff Steven Cox, police supervisors Cmdr. Mark Smith and Sgt. John Taylor; school security guard Nicholas Graham; and employees and board members in School District 11.
Notices of claim are a required first step before suing governmental agencies.
Whether bad publicity alone will lead to settlements is uncertain, but observers say it's sure to play a role at the bargaining table.
"Of course that's the case," said John Gregory Walta, an attorney and former head of the Colorado State Public Defender's Office who said the agencies will have a "moral obligation" to assist child accusers if a jury affirms the abuse.
Teachers, police officers and others are bound to recoil from being publicly tied to behavior they find reprehensible, said Thomas L. Roberts, a Denver attorney who in 1998 helped win a $5.5 million settlement from the Archdiocese of Denver on behalf of 18 people alleging they were assaulted by priests as children.
Yet those people will face intense scrutiny as attorneys bring a magnifying glass to each agency involved, observers say.
To prove liability, plaintiff's attorneys will review the Police Department's hiring and supervisory practices and hunt for evidence to support claims by parents who say school officials were warned long before Carrier's arrest.
"I think $1 million a victim is very possible," Walta said.
Said Klismet: "The theory is essentially a 'woulda, coulda, shoulda' kind of thing."
"It's the kind of thing you want to go away, but it won't go away."
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