A former Catholic brother who taught music and theology in Pueblo was accused Wednesday of assaulting two students in the late 1960s.
Two men, one from Albuquerque and the other from Danville, Calif., alleged in separate civil lawsuits that Brother William Mueller, who taught at Roncalli High School, convinced them to take part in “sleeping experiments” during which they were assaulted.
Both said Mueller asked them to assist in research he was doing to complete a thesis for his master’s degree in psychology. Both said they were told to inhale ether, which they did.
At the time of the alleged assaults in 1968 and 1969, the Diocese of Pueblo owned the high school, and the Society of Mary (the Marianists) administered the facility with their priests and brothers.
Now 67 and living in San Antonio, Mueller, who resigned from the Marianists in 1986, declined comment.
The lawsuits, filed in Pueblo District Court, named the Diocese of Pueblo and the Marianists Province of the United States as defendants.
The Albuquerque man, identified as J.M., claimed that in 1968 when he was a 15-year-old sophomore, Mueller met him in the school newspaper office. He said Mueller told him to inhale the ether. Thirty minutes later, J.M. said, he panicked when he awoke. He felt nauseous, queasy and sore. He said Mueller told him not to tell anyone about the “science experiment.”
The lawsuit alleges the events were repeated two weeks later when Mueller again sodomized J.M.
The California man, identified as T.A., claimed that in 1969 when he was a 17-year-old junior, Mueller met him in the music room. His lawsuit alleges Mueller placed an ether-soaked towel over T.A.’s face and pinned down T.A.’s arms. T.A. said he recalled Mueller speaking in a sexually suggestive manner and asking T.A. about his sexual fantasies. He was then sexually assaulted, according to the suit.
The following week, Mueller asked T.A. to participate in another session and again placed ether over T.A.’s face. But T.A. didn’t fall asleep and when Mueller removed his pants and fondled his genitals, he became “hysterical,” the lawsuit said.
Adam Horowitz, the men’s lawyer, alleged that Mueller’s actions were known to the diocese and the religious order and that Mueller was transferred from Pueblo to St. Louis, where he taught at two other Catholic high schools.
Horowitz said he is looking into allegations of additional victims in Pueblo and St. Louis.
In about 1985, Mueller was sent to a pedophile treatment center for priests in New Mexico, Horowitz said. He left the Society of Mary in 1986.
Diane Guerra, spokeswoman for the religious order, said that Mueller was not forced out.
In a letter of resignation, Mueller wrote: “I do not wish to live my vows any longer,” Guerra said.
“There is no indication we forced him to leave,” she added.
Guerra said that the order has not been served with the lawsuits, so it wasn’t possible to respond to the allegations. But she added that the two Pueblo lawsuits are the first litigation involving Mueller. The diocese didn’t return calls seeking comment.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
