Judge preliminarily denies request from Bishop Luers’ attorneys to name women suing for alleged child exploitation cover-up

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) - An Allen County Superior Court judge preliminarily denied a request Thursday from attorneys representing Bishop Luers High School to name women suing the school for allegedly covering up child exploitation.

BACKGROUND: Lawsuit filed against Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese, Bishop Luers alleges child exploitation cover-up | Story continues below previous coverage

The lawsuit, filed in January, claims male students attending the Catholic high school created and sold video montages and digital folders with female Bishop Luers students’ names displayed over “explicit pornographic” videos and photos from websites like Pornhub. Attorneys representing the women, who were minors at the time of the alleged incident, say the images used included people “whose general appearance, including hair color and length, body type, skin tone and other features resembled” minor female students at Bishop Luers between 2022 and 2023.

In August, attorneys representing the high school, the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, and four school administrators formally responded to the lawsuit, requesting that the nine women, currently being identified in court proceedings as Jane Does, be required to use their real names to proceed with the lawsuit.

RELATED: Bishop Luers formally responds to lawsuit alleging child exploitation cover-up | Plaintiffs pushing back against move to reveal their identities in lawsuit alleging Bishop Luers child exploitation cover-up

Attorneys for the women and their families said naming them would be like “pouring salt into a wound,” asking Allen Superior Court Judge Andrew Williams to consider the potential harm it could cause.

“If (the) Plaintiffs are forced to reveal their names by order of this court, they risk peers, acquaintances and even complete strangers seeking out the illicit videos and using those materials to intimidate, threaten, tease or otherwise harm them,” the attorneys’ response reads. “Put simply, every time these videos and images are accessed they risk being amplified and further shared.”

Five of the young women were interviewed by a psychologist, who said naming them would cause significant harm. Specifically, that it would “reactivate the trauma responses they experienced and contribute more emotional injuries of anxiety, depression and PTSD symptoms through unnecessary exposure.”

MORE: Bishop Luers lawsuit hearing focuses on pseudonym use | Attorney representing Bishop Luers HS students, families alleging child exploitation cover-up says dozens more have come forward

A hearing was held last month on the issue.

In his Thursday order, Williams noted that future discovery will impact the anonymity in the case, saying he is “concerned that revealing the Plaintiffs’ identities will be irreversible.”

The judge said he will reconsider the ruling once discovery, the legal process for parties exchanging relevant case information, and mediation is complete.

To be the first to get the latest breaking news alerts, download the 21Alive News App here.

You can also catch the latest news from 21Alive anytime on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV. Just search “21Alive” in the app store and download the app to your device.