Father David J. Hanser

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  www.andersonadvocates.com/NewsListing.aspx?ID=311 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/21/2009    Last Visited: 10/20/2009  

  Two adult brothers who contend they were sexually assaulted by a Waukesha County Catholic priest when they were boys sued the Milwaukee Archdiocese on Tuesday, saying it knew Father David Hanser had a history of molesting children and failed to warn their family.
  
  The lawsuit, filed by David and Peter Neels in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, is the 12th civil fraud case now pending against the archdiocese alleging sexual abuse by clergy.
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  Hanser, of Nashotah, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
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  "After so long, I can almost forgive Hanser.
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  According to the lawsuit, Hanser served in several area parishes before being assigned to St. Mary Catholic Church in Pewaukee in the early 1980s.
  
  The Neels - David, of Hudson, and Peter, of Cottage Grove, Minn. - contend that Hanser sexually assaulted them over several years beginning in 1982 when they were about 10 and 13 years old. The Neels - David, of Hudson, and Peter, of Cottage Grove, Minn. - contend that Hanser sexually assaulted them over several years beginning in 1982 when they were about 10 and 13 years old.
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  Hanser, 77, is believed to have molested as many as a dozen boys beginning in the 1960s, according to a 2003 investigation by Waukesha County authorities. The cases were not prosecuted because the statute of limitations had expired.
  
  Hanser settled a civil lawsuit involving another set of siblings in 2003, paying an unspecified sum of money to the family and the Child Abuse Prevention Fund.
  
  In that case, he was accused of molesting John Ramstack and three of his brothers in the late 1960s and early 1970s when Hanser was at Catholic Memorial High School and St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Brookfield.
  
  The Ramstacks reported the abuse in 1988, after which Hanser was removed from St. Mary's parish in Pewaukee. He served from 1991 to 2002 as a chaplain at area hospitals - with the understanding that he would have no unsupervised contact with children - after a therapist assured the archdiocese that he was no longer a threat. He retired in May 2002, a month after a Journal Sentinel story raised questions about his supervision as chaplain.
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  Two adult brothers who contend they were sexually assaulted by a Waukesha County Catholic priest when they were boys sued the Milwaukee Archdiocese on Tuesday, saying it knew Father David Hanser had a history of molesting children and failed to warn their family.
  
  Milwaukee Archdiocese victim-plaintiffs in new fraud lawsuits available at 3:00 p.m. today in web video press conference
  
  Area priest and archdiocese, according to complaint, knew Fr. David Hanser was a child molester from at least early 1970’s

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  terrenceberres.com/ise-sex.html - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 9/23/2007    Last Visited: 9/23/2007  

  Father David Hanser sexually molested boys, according to law enforcement officials, for at least three decades.
  
  Father Hanser was assigned to parishes and ministries throughout the archdiocese and was one of the many clergy that fell under the archbishop's controversial policy, which was at complete variance with the opinion of the state's leading mental health authorities on sex offenders.
  
  Three brothers who the priest sexually abused came forward to the archdiocese in 1988 when Father Hanser was working at Catholic Memorial High School and St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Brookfield.
  
  One boy was 11 in 1983 when Father Hanser began molesting him.
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  According to a sister of the victims, Father Hanser "just wormed his way into our lives.
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  I remember my dad saying, ‘He has to stay, he has to help him.' My parents felt they owed Father Hanser."
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  The bishop promised the family that Father Hanser would not be allowed near children again.He would be placed under strict supervision and monitoring.
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  When Father Hanser was removed from ministry in 2002, he was serving on the hospital's ethics committee.He continues to live alone on his exclusive property and estate overlooking scenic Moose Lake in Waukesha County.
  
  The mother of three more sons abused by Father Hanser met with the priest in April of 2002."He showed no remorse," she commented."He said if he offended us, he was sorry."The priest said he had been "immature" at the time he was sexually assaulting her children.After the meeting the priest wrote the family.In the past, he had been "selfish.""I ask for your forgiveness in a spirit of confidentiality," wrote the priest.
  
  "Had the archdiocese ...reports, according to the Wakesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher, Father Hanser would have been prosecuted.

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  unnibhaskar.spaces.live.com/?_c11_BlogPart_BlogPart=blo - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 4/1/2007    Last Visited: 3/18/2008  

  Priest David Hanser, 70.Hanser was one of the first Catholic priests to be caught up in the sex abuse scandal.In 1990, he settled a suit filed by one of his victims for $65,000.In the settlement, Hanser agreed not to work with children anymore, but the victim learned that Hanser was ignoring that part of the agreement.The victim appealed to the church, asking it to stop Hanser from working near children, but the church would not intervene."It's up to the church to decide where he works," argued the priest's lawyer.When the outraged victim went to the press to warn the public that a pedo priest was near children, Hanser sued him for the same $65,000 because he violated his own part of the deal â€" to keep the settlement secret.The message is clear: shut up about outrageous abuse, or we'll sue you for catching us.
  
  13. Sued the neighbor he was trying to steal from.

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  www.2spare.com/item_65657.aspx - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 12/7/2006    Last Visited: 12/2/2007  

  Priest David Hanser, 70.Hanser was one of the first Catholic priests to be caught up in the sex abuse scandal.In 1990, he settled a suit filed by one of his victims for $65,000.In the settlement, Hanser agreed not to work with children anymore, but the victim learned that Hanser was ignoring that part of the agreement.The victim appealed to the church, asking it to stop Hanser from working near children, but the church would not intervene."It's up to the church to decide where he works," argued the priest's lawyer.When the outraged victim went to the press to warn the public that a pedo priest was near children, Hanser sued him for the same $65,000 because he violated his own part of the deal -- to keep the settlement secret.The message is clear: shut up about outrageous abuse, or we'll sue you for catching us.
  
  Sued the neighbor he was trying to steal from

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  www.andersonadvocates.com/NewsListing.aspx?ID=309 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/21/2009    Last Visited: 10/20/2009  

  Area priest and archdiocese, according to complaint, knew Fr. David Hanser was a child molester from at least early 1970?s
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  SNAP leaders today announced that new fraud lawsuits were filed this morning in Milwaukee County by two brothers who were sexually molested for several years by Fr. David Hanser. Hanser was assigned at the time to St. Mary's Church in Pewaukee, Wisconsin and currently lives on Moose Lake, Waukesha County. The child sex crimes detailed in the lawsuit should never had occurred, according to the complaint, since the archdiocese knew that Hanser was a child molester since at least the early 1970's. The complaint states that a victim reported his abuse by Hanser to a Fr. Bernard Sippel.
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  Earlier today SNAP officials held a press conference about the fraud suites in front of St. John Vianney Parish in Brookfield where Hanser once worked . Present were John Pilmaier and his parents, Lynn and John, Sr. Pilmaier was sexually assaulted by Hanser as a grade school student at Vianney in the late 1970's (contact information below).
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  Earlier today SNAP officials held a press conference about the fraud suites in front of St. John Vianney Parish in Brookfield where Hanser once worked . Present were John Pilmaier and his parents, Lynn and John, Sr. Pilmaier was sexually assaulted by Hanser as a grade school student at Vianney in the late 1970's (contact information below).
  ...
  Two adult brothers who contend they were sexually assaulted by a Waukesha County Catholic priest when they were boys sued the Milwaukee Archdiocese on Tuesday, saying it knew Father David Hanser had a history of molesting children and failed to warn their family.
  
  Milwaukee Archdiocese victim-plaintiffs in new fraud lawsuits available at 3:00 p.m. today in web video press conference
  
  Area priest and archdiocese, according to complaint, knew Fr. David Hanser was a child molester from at least early 1970’s

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  Grief Group - Chat Rooms & Message Boards: Home - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/10/2001    Last Visited: 11/17/2004  

  #4: Priest David Hanser, 70.Hanser was one of the first Catholic priests to be caught up in the sex abuse scandal.In 1990, he settled a suit filed by one of his victims for $65,000.In the settlement, Hanser agreed not to work with children anymore, but the victim learned that Hanser was ignoring that part of the agreement.The victim appealed to the church, asking it to stop Hanser from working near children, but the church would not intervene."It's up to the church to decide where he works," argued the priest's lawyer.When the outraged victim went to the press to warn the public that a pedo priest was near children, Hanser sued him for the same $65,000 because he violated his own part of the deal -- to keep the settlement secret.

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  In The News :: Equity Development Group - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/21/2004    Last Visited: 9/15/2009  

  #4: Priest David Hanser, 70. Hanser was one of the first Catholic priests to be caught up in the sex abuse scandal. In 1990, he settled a suit filed by one of his victims for $65,000. In the settlement, Hanser agreed not to work with children anymore, but the victim learned that Hanser was ignoring that part of the agreement. The victim appealed to the church, asking it to stop Hanser from working near children, but the church would not intervene. "It's up to the church to decide where he works," argued the priest's lawyer. When the outraged victim went to the press to warn the public that a pedo priest was near children, Hanser sued him for the same $65,000 because he violated his own part

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  JS Online: Abuse incidents too old to prosecute - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/14/2003    Last Visited: 2/15/2003  

  Waukesha - For 20 years, Father David Hanser molested boys, but no charges can be filed because the state's statute of limitations has expired, the Waukesha County district attorney has concluded.
  
  Quotable
  
  I can't turn back the hands oftime.
  
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  A recently completed Waukesha County sheriff's investigation into complaints about Hanser turned up evidence that Hanser molested as many as a dozen boys at his Merton lake cottage in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, with the last assaults ending in 1986, reports show.
  
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  John Ramstack and three of his brothers came forward in 1988 to say Hanser molested them in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Hanser was at Catholic Memorial High School and St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Brookfield.
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  In 1988, the archdiocese removed Hanser, who was then pastor at St. Mary's Church in Pewaukee.But church officials did not tell parishioners why or ask if there were others who had been abused.
  
  Among those left in the dark was a St. Mary's family whose three sons now say Hanser molested them from 1983 to 1986.
  
  In the 1980s, Hanser and the archdiocese paid $65,000 to John Ramstack in exchange for him not filing a lawsuit and strict confidentiality.
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  But the Ramstacks broke their silence last year, telling the Journal Sentinel that they believed they no longer had to abide by the gag order because Hanser had violated the same agreement by working as a chaplain at area hospitals.
  
  Under the agreement, Hanser had promised not to work where he would be near children.
  
  The archdiocese last year confirmed that Hanser was one of six priests in active ministry with credible or substantiated sexual abuse histories.Hanser retired from his hospital work, and the archdiocese has since barred him from all ministry.
  
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  The mother, who asked not to be identified, said Friday that at the April 25 meeting, Hanser showed "no remorse."
  
  "He said if he offended us, he was sorry," she said, and explained that he had been "lonesome and immature."
  
  Hanser was in his 50s and her sons were between 13 and 18 when they say Hanser abused them, sheriff's reports say.The youngest, an altar boy, told a detective Hanser molested him 25 to 30 times over 21/2 years.
  
  Two days after the April meeting, Hanser wrote a letter to the couple's three sons, now adults.Hanser did not specifically mention sexual abuse but apologized for his "past immaturity and selfishness and asked for their forgiveness in a spirit of confidentiality."
  
  "Let me solemnly assure you that I have successfully come to understand, face and control my past behavior through extensive professional assistance . . ," Hanser wrote.
  
  A version of this story appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Feb. 15, 2003.BACK TO TOP
  
  FEATURED ADVERTISERS>

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  JS Online: Bucher orders sex abuse investigation - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 5/14/2002    Last Visited: 5/15/2002  

  Members of one of the families were quoted in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story last month on Father David J. Hanser, Bucher said.
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  In an April 21 article, the Journal Sentinel reported that four boys from the Ramstack family had accused Hanser of molesting them at Hanser's cottage on Moose Lake in the Town of Merton.Hanser was the pastor of a Waukesha County Catholic church at the time.
  
  The Ramstacks are now in their 40s.
  
  Sheriff's Lt.
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  The agreement allowed Hanser to continue to work as a priest under monitoring but required that he "not engage or accept employment, enroll in any training courses, or perform volunteer work which involves access to or contact with children."
  
  In the Journal Sentinel story, Ramstack and his siblings said they felt they could comment because they believe the agreement was broken when Hanser went to work as a chaplain at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center and other hospitals in the Covenant Healthcare System.
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  Hanser now has full restrictions, he said.
  
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  Hanser did not return a call seeking comment.
  
  The Milwaukee Archdiocese said he was among six priests with alleged or confirmed records of sexual assault who continue to minister.On Monday, the archdiocese said it had identified another six priests with questionable histories involving sexual conduct with minors.
  
  All of the cases are being reviewed by the commission that Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland appointed to advise him on the sexual scandal.
  
  Since Hanser was identified in the article, the archdiocese also has received "more allegations with additional victims," Topczewski said.
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  If the investigation results in charges, Hanser is responsible for his own legal defense, Topczewski said.

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  JS Online: Judge calls on church to explain settlement - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/7/2003    Last Visited: 1/9/2003  

  Waukesha County Circuit Judge J. Mac Davis told both sides that the archdiocese may need to explain the terms of a 1990 secret settlement of a sexual abuse complaint by John Ramstack against Father David Hanser of Merton.
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  Neither Ramstack of Elm Grove nor Hanser wants the archdiocese to be part of the litigation.
  
  But Davis said the archdiocese was a necessary party because it signed the settlement contract in 1990 with Hanser, Ramstack and Ramstack's wife, Patrice.
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  John and Patrice Ramstack sued Hanser in November in Waukesha County Circuit Court, alleging that Hanser breached the 1990 settlement by continuing to work near children.
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  John Ramstack and three of his brothers told the archdiocese in 1988 that Hanser had molested them years ago at his cottage on Moose Lake in the Town of Merton.
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  Archdiocesan officials removed Hanser as pastor of a Waukesha County church and later assigned him to serve in various hospitals, where the Ramstacks say Hanser was near children.
  
  Hanser worked as a chaplain at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center and also was on call at three other hospitals.
  
  The archdiocese said that it informed hospital directors about Hanser's past and established adequate controls to ensure that he had no access to children.
  
  Nonetheless, the Ramstacks said they complained to the archdiocese about the hospital assignment, but their complaint went unanswered.John Ramstack said that he first learned from a reporter early last year that Hanser was still working at hospitals.
  
  In an April interview, the family spoke out against Hanser and the archdiocese.
  
  Hanser retired from his hospital work last spring, and the archdiocese later ordered him to abandon any active ministry.
  
  John and Patrice Ramstack sued Hanser in November.
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  Hanser later filed a countersuit against the couple, saying they breached the same 1990 settlement by going public with their story and by suing him.
  
  Through his attorney, John Schiro, Hanser has asked Judge Davis to order the Ramstacks to return the $65,000 they received in the settlement.
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  Schiro said that Hanser did not breach the contract or have contact or access to children at area hospitals.
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  But Schiro said that even if Hanser did, the contract says that any complaints about Hanser's alleged involvement with children can be made only to the archdiocese.
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  But the Ramstacks' attorney, Timothy Clark, said that the contract does not preclude the Ramstacks from suing Hanser personally for accepting an assignment that could put him near children.
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  "At the end of the day, David Hanser made a promise" to stay away from children, Clark said.

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