Sex Case Can Go To Trial Former Student Accuses Teacher Of Sexual Abuse

A former Wallace student who says a teacher had a sexual relationship with her can take the case against her old school district to trial, a judge ruled Tuesday.

“She is going to be extremely pleased … She will have her day in court,” said attorney John Magnuson, who is representing Dody Stewart.

Stewart, now 24, has accused Steve Milionis of initiating a sexual relationship with her when she was a 14-year-old student at Silver Hills Middle School in the Wallace School District.

Milionis was the school’s special education teacher at the time. Their relationship, consummated in motel rooms and the back seat of Milionis’ car, lasted until 1993, Stewart says.

Milionis is now a counselor at Coeur d’Alene High School. He denies the allegations.

Stewart filed a lawsuit against Milionis and the Wallace School District in August 1994, claiming emotional suffering. Her psychologists say she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

She contends the Wallace School District failed to check on Milionis’ history before hiring him, and also failed to investigate rumors of his sexual relationship with the young student despite widespread knowledge of his affair among students and staff.

The district tried to have the lawsuit thrown out of court on summary judgment, saying the lawsuit was filed after the statute of limitations had expired.

Magnuson and his brother Jim, who is co-counsel in the case, argued that Stewart couldn’t have filed her lawsuit earlier because post-traumatic stress disorder prevented her from realizing she had been harmed by Milionis and the district.

In his decision released Tuesday, First District Judge Gary Haman agreed that a teacher - often trusted like a parent - could abuse a student and then cause that student not to realize they had been harmed until much later.

“A child puts his or her trust in parental figures. When a person abuses that trust he commits two wrongs: sexual abuse of the child, and use of the child’s dependency and innocence to prevent recognition or revelation of the abuse,” Haman wrote.

“This may be accomplished by enforcing secrecy or teaching the child that the sexual acts are normal or necessary to the relationship.”

If the child then does not realize they have been abused, the time limitations to file a lawsuit against their abuser are extended, Haman said.

Stewart also is suing the Grangeville School District. She believes district officials knew Milionis had sexual relations with another student when he worked in that district prior to working in the Wallace district.

The lawsuit claims they allowed him to move on to Wallace without warning. Grangeville officials say they were never asked about Milionis’ history.

After the lawsuit was filed, the Coeur d’Alene School District briefly suspended Milionis while the administration conducted an investigation.

The investigation cleared Milionis of any wrongdoing in the Coeur d’Alene district, where he’s worked since 1990.

The fact that the lawsuit is proceeding toward trial does not change Milionis’ job status, said Superintendent Doug Cresswell.

“We feel comfortable with his behavior as an employee of the Coeur d’Alene School District,” Cresswell said Tuesday.

Cresswell would not say whether Milionis would lose his job if Stewart wins the lawsuit. Ultimately, he said, that would be a school board decision.

Wallace School District attorneys Susan Servick and Mike Ramsden could not be reached for comment.

Milionis’ attorney, Thomas Mitchell, declined to comment on Haman’s ruling because he hadn’t had a chance to read the decision.

Magnuson said Stewart is “putting her life back together. “This is something she is always going to carry with her,” he said. “Somebody stole a part of her childhood that she can never get back.”

, DataTimes