SD court upholds dismissal of school abuse lawsuit

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) – A man who alleges he was sexually abused decades ago at an American Indian boarding school cannot continue his lawsuit against the religious organizations that ran the school, the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The high court’s unanimous ruling upheld a trial judge’s decision to throw out the lawsuit because D.Z. Iron Wing waited too long to file it.

The justices agreed with Circuit Judge Bradley Zell of Sioux Falls, who found that Iron Wing knew of injuries or should have discovered injuries caused by the alleged abuse more than three years before he filed his lawsuit against the Catholic Church and the religious organizations that previously ran the St. Paul’s Indian School in Marty.

“The evidence indisputably shows that Iron Wing never forgot the abuse and was aware that he was angry and felt hatred toward the church, the nuns, and the priests, as well as their orders since his junior year of high school,” Justice John K. Konenkamp wrote for the high court.

That meant Iron Wing should have at least sought to discover the cause of his hatred and anger more than three years before he went to court, the Supreme Court said.

At issue was a state law that requires a lawsuit seeking damages for childhood sexual abuse to be filed within three years of the alleged abuse or within three years of the time the victim discovered or should have discovered an injury was caused by the alleged abuse.

Iron Wing, 64, filed a lawsuit in 2008 against the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls, Blue Cloud Abbey, the Oblate Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and a nun and a priest he alleged abused him when he attended the school in 1953-1964. The religious organizations ran the school for decades, but the school has since been transferred to control of the Yankton Sioux Tribe. Lawyers in the case said the nun and priest accused of the abuse have died.

Dozens of similar lawsuits alleging sexual abuse at Indian boarding schools in South Dakota have been filed, but most have been dismissed after judges found the former students waited too long to sue.

Michael J. Ford of St. Cloud, Minn., a lawyer for the Oblate Sisters, said Thursday he had not had a chance to read the ruling, but added: “Obviously, my clients are relieved.”

Ford said laws limiting the time in which such lawsuits can be filed were put in place because evidence and witnesses are not available after too long a time has passed.

Iron Wing’s attorney did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Iron Wing said in a deposition that the sexual abuse caused him anger and hatred toward the Catholic Church, nuns and priests. However, he argued that a psychologist found that his anger and hatred were just ways to cope with a broader range of injuries that he did not discover until recently. The psychologist said Iron Wing has moderate depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.