Second suit filed against Blue Creek Academy (West Virginia)

wvgazettemail.com/ ^ | July 13, 2016 | Ryan Quinn , Staff Writer

[Morgana]

A second former Blue Creek Academy student, along with one of his parents, has filed suit against the now-closed Kanawha County Christian boys boarding school, its leaders and its sponsor, Bible Baptist Church, over allegations that he was starved and physically abused there.

The minor’s lawsuit, filed late last month, also alleges that he was sexually abused by a school staff member’s son due to “lack of supervision and other improper standards utilized by the facility.” The ongoing suit against the same defendants filed by a separate minor in May 2015 alleges sexual abuse by another student, but doesn’t specify whether the alleged abuser was related to any staff.

Both suits also name as defendants Bible Baptist Pastor James Waldeck and J.R. Thompson, Blue Creek Academy’s former director who, according to an extensive article on Blue Creek Academy in The Daily Beast, has started a new religious school in Montana. Waldeck told a reporter Tuesday he wasn’t allowed to comment and quickly hung up the phone.

The defendants have denied the allegations of the first suit. They haven’t yet filed formal answers to the allegations in the new case, nor have they been officially notified about the second suit.

Calls Tuesday to defendants’ attorneys in the first suit weren’t returned, and it’s unclear whether the same attorneys will be representing them in the new litigation.

Charleston-based attorney Troy Giatras, who represents both former students, told the Gazette-Mail last month that he expected the litigation to expand beyond just one student. Both suits allege the defendants failed to report abuse to parents or authorities.

[refreshed]

Bookmarked

[fella]

One lawyer representing all the plaintiffs? I smell lawfare.