An unexpected witness may testify that former Morning Star Boys’ Ranch director Joseph Weitensteiner had him procure boys for sex and then gave him money to keep it quiet years later, according to a motion today in the first sex-abuse trial against the ranch.

The dramatic revelation in the sex-abuse lawsuit by Kenneth Putnam came outside the presence of the Superior Court jury Thursday morning when Judge Kathleen O’Connor demanded to know why Putnam’s attorney had called an unscheduled witness three weeks into proceedings.

Read the rest of Kevin Graman's story here.

On Wednesday, the jury was told that Patrick O’Donnell – whose infamy as the abuser of as many as 66 children was inextricably linked to the scandal that bankrupted the Catholic Diocese of Spokane – also insinuated himself into Morning Star Boys Ranch.

Read that story here.

O'Donnell is pictured left testifying at a trial in Seattle in May. (Read more on O'Donnell: Pedophile priest free to roam )

---

---