3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017
Brothers sue Archdiocese of Portland
for $6 million over alleged sex abuse
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Neacoxie Barn in Gearhart
has avoided foreclosure.
Going …
Going …
Delayed!
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
GEARHART — The
owner of Neacoxie Barn con-
tinues to envision a future for
the property, even while fend-
ing off foreclosure proceed-
ings for the second time in six
months.
The barn has been used
for weddings, family reunions
and other commercial events
despite repeated warning from
the city.
“The February auction is
canceled, and a refinance is in
process,” Shannon Smith, the
barn’s owner, said of the recent
turn.
The property was sched-
uled to be sold at auction at
Clatsop County Courthouse
in early October, a date post-
poned to Monday and delayed
again this week. A Seattle law
firm handling the sale said the
auction could be rescheduled
in 30 or 60 days.
The former livery sta-
ble used for special events
remains shuttered after Gear-
hart officials sought and won
an injunction to prohibit com-
mercial use until health and
safety conditions are met.
Meanwhile, in Janaury,
Circuit Court Judge Cindee
Matyas issued a judgment
ordering a permanent injunc-
tion on the barn until Smith
obtains a valid certificate of
occupancy.
Smith has said she plans to
bring the building up to code.
“I look forward to receiving
Gearhart’s positive support for
a sustaining use for the preser-
vation of our most original his-
toric structure — especially
as the city begins to discuss
ideas for a community cele-
bration of our 100th birthday,”
Smith said. “It is my hope that
the Gearhart Park Hotel Liv-
ery Stable will again serve as
a treasured gathering place for
our community. It would be
most fitting to celebrate such a
significant milestone at Gear-
hart’s first commercial site and
earliest historic structure.”
Late priest in
Seaside named
in allegations
KATU
PORTLAND — Two
brothers, who are now adults,
have announced they’re suing
the Archdiocese of Portland
for childhood sex abuse.
The plaintiffs allege they
were abused as children while
living in St. Paul by Father
James Harris, who served as a
Catholic priest in the St. Paul
Parish in Silverton during the
mid- to late 1960s. One of the
brothers also alleges he was
abused by Father Maurice
Grammond in Seaside.
According to the lawsuit,
the two brothers knew Har-
ris from church and school
while they were growing up.
Their stepfather was diag-
nosed with leukemia, which is
when the lawsuit claims Har-
ris began spending more time
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Father Maurice Grammond, considered one of Oregon’s
most notorious pedophile priests, once served at Our
Lady of Victory Catholic Church in Seaside.
with the brothers, taking them
on many overnight trips.
“The priest kind of
befriended us when my step-
father was dying,” one plain-
tiff, referred to as O.M., told
KATU by phone. “He started
taking us on trips to the coast
and that eventually led to him
taking me alone.”
During one of those trips
to Seaside, one of the broth-
ers was allegedly molested by
Grammond, who was accused
of sexually abusing boys back
to 1957.
“He would take each one
of us at a different time alone
and in the middle of the night,”
O.M. said of Harris. “(He)
started playing with me and
making me play with him.”
O.M., 59, now lives in
Washington state. His older
brother lives in Marion
County.
“I’ll admit I’ve been a
pretty angry guy my whole
life,” he said. “It’s really
affected every aspect of it.”
Gilion Dumas, the broth-
ers’ attorney, has represented
more than 20 cases against the
Catholic Church.
“The facts could be shatter-
ing,” Dumas said. “You know,
this is the way that we get these
institutions to change.”
Dumas says victims of sex
abuse sometimes take years, if
not decades, to come forward.
“The legal system does only
allow them to sue for money,”
she said. “They can’t sue to get
their childhood back.”
According to court docu-
ments, the brothers are asking
for jury trials and want $3 mil-
lion each in damages.
“I was raised Catholic,”
O.M. said. “I’ve lost all reli-
gion that I’ve had … God
didn’t put them there, he put
himself there.”
Harris, who is now
deceased, faced at least four
other sex abuse claims, all set-
tled by the Archdiocese since
2006.
Grammond died in 2002.
He has been subject to more
than 40 sex abuse claims, and
is considered one of Oregon’s
most notorious pedophile
priests.
Dumas believes there are
more victims who haven’t
come forward.
In a prepared statement,
the Archdiocese of Portland
told KATU News:
“These most recent alle-
gations and court filings have
just been delivered to us
today. We are currently look-
ing into them, as we do with
every legal matter associated
the Archdiocese. And as with
previous allegations, we take
these very seriously and will
cooperate in whatever ways
are required by law.”
Legislation would raise Oregon’s smoking age to 21
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — A state law-
maker who also is a family
physician plans to reintro-
duce legislation this week
that would raise the legal
smoking age from 18 to 21.
The proposal by state Sen.
Elizabeth Steiner Hayward,
D-Beaverton, is intended
to limit teenagers access to
tobacco.
“As a family physician,
I always think it’s better to
prevent disease than to cure
it, and one of the best things
we can do in Oregon to pre-
vent disease is to stop people
from using tobacco and other
dangerous products that con-
tain nicotine and other harm-
ful substances,” said Steiner
Hayward, who has lost fam-
ily members to smoking-re-
lated illnesses.
“I’ve seen the effects as
a physician and as a family
member all too well,” she
added. “Oregon deserves a
better future than this.”
“The cost in lives and
lost productivity and chil-
dren’s wellness is inestima-
ble,” Steiner Hayward said.
“This bill is personal, too. I
lost my father, my father-in-
law and one of my beloved
aunts to smoking-related ill-
nesses. I’ve seen the effects
as a physician and as a fam-
ily member all too well. Ore-
gon deserves a better future
than this.”
Recent research, includ-
ing some from the U.S.
Surgeon General’s Office,
shows that brains under age
26 are more susceptible to
addiction.
“If you don’t start smok-
ing by age 21, you are less
likely ever to start,” said Noe
Baker, a spokeswoman for
the American Cancer Soci-
ety Cancer Action Network,
one of 20 organizations cam-
paigning for the law change.
The legislation would
impose first-time civil pen-
alties of $50 for clerks and
$500 for managers who sell
to minors. People of legal age
who give tobacco to minors
would likely face simi-
lar penalties as store clerks,
Steiner Hayward said.
“We made a conscious
decision not have criminal
penalties because we know
that tobacco companies tend
to target low-income com-
munities who can least afford
it,” Steiner Hayward said.
“We know many of the clerks
working in stores are working
hard to support their families
or making extra money while
getting an education, and we
didn’t want to unduly punish
them, and we didn’t want to
give them criminal records.”
In 2015, Hawaii became
the first state in the nation
to raise the smoking age to
21. California followed suit
last year. An additional 210
cities and counties, includ-
ing New York City and Bos-
ton, have similar laws. No
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Happy Birthday To Our Beautiful Girl
You are in our hearts
and on our minds
every single day.
Your love and laughter
is missed by all.
Today we will send you
balloons full of love
because that is what you love.
We Love You Forever!
Dad, Mom, Grandma, Grandpa
Kory, Courtney and Dallas
Steiner Hayward said she
thinks this year’s legislation
has better prospects than a for-
mer iteration proposed in 2015.
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Ashlee Renee Martens
cities or counties in Oregon
have raised the smoking age,
but Lane County is currently
considering such a proposal.
“It is sort of picking up
at county levels, and we are
hoping to bring it statewide,”
Baker said.
At the current smok-
ing rate, 68,000 Oregon kids
alive today will eventually die
from tobacco-related disease,
Friend said, quoting statistics
from Tobacco Free Kids.
Oregonian
households
pay an estimated $780 a year
for the medical care of smok-
ers, Steiner Hayward added.
Oregon also loses an esti-
mated $3 billion in lost pro-
ductivity and health care
costs per year from smok-
ing-related disease, accord-
ing to figures from Tobacco
Free Kids.
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