Judge won’t drop sex abuse suit

A Superior Court judge refused a request from Spokane County to dismiss a lawsuit brought by men who allege they were sexually abused more than two decades ago by former sheriff’s Deputy David Hahn.

Judge Neal Rielly, however, did dismiss two of the four plaintiffs from the suit, agreeing the county couldn’t have known about Hahn’s abusive behavior when they were sexually abused.

The judge, in an order filed last week, also dismissed claims that the county was negligent in hiring Hahn in the mid-1970s and in investigating claims that he was sexually abusing boys.

But Rielly left intact a claim that the county, through the Sheriff’s Office, was negligent in retaining Hahn after senior commanders were told about the abuse allegations.

Rielly also said he was “satisfied under a liberal interpretation” that the men’s claims were being brought within the statute of limitations, even though the abuse occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

After being confronted at least a second time about the allegations, Hahn took his own life Aug. 28, 1981, at age 36.

The plaintiffs who remain in the suit are Douglas Chicklinsky and Robert Galliher, who described their allegations of abuse in a June 2003 story in The Spokesman-Review.

Galliher and another man, Michael Grant, also told the newspaper last year that they were sexually abused in the late 1970s and early 1980s by Hahn’s partner in the Sheriff’s Office, former Deputy Jim West.

Galliher made the same allegations against West in a sworn deposition taken last year by Terry Lackie, the private attorney hired to defend Spokane County in the case.

Hahn and West were friends and co-Scoutmasters for a Boy Scout troop on Spokane’s South Hill.

Before he was recalled from office last year as Spokane’s mayor, West emphatically denied ever molesting boys or knowing that Hahn was allegedly involved in such activity.

Chicklinsky and Galliher “remained absolutely ready to go to court to press their claims,” their attorney, John Allison, said Wednesday.

Allison said he was still reviewing Rielly’s ruling and hadn’t decided whether he would ask him to reconsider his dismissal of two of the four plaintiffs. “We certainly expect that at least two of the claims would remain,” he said.

“We’re disappointed that two of these plaintiffs’ claims have been dismissed, but all four of these men remain very dedicated to seeing that the truth of this sad history be told and that future tragedies of this type be avoided,” Allison said.

Even though the two other men are no longer plaintiffs, Allison said he expects to call them as witnesses at trial.

“There are other victims we have learned about and spoken with who would be called as witnesses to establish a pattern of outrageous conduct on Hahn’s behalf while a sheriff’s deputy, a church youth counselor and a Boy Scout leader,” Allison said.

A trial date set for this spring was stricken. Allison said he expects to return to court within 30 to 45 days to get a new trial date, possibly later this year.

Lackie said Wednesday he was pleased with the court’s ruling dismissing two of the plaintiffs.

“I’m not shocked that he didn’t dismiss the entire action,” Lackie said.

Lackie said he will schedule a private meeting within a month with Spokane County commissioners to discuss whether to attempt to settle the case out of court or prepare for trial. The county has spent approximately $200,000 so far in the defense of the suit, filed in 2003.

“I will present the facts and the status of the case, but it will be up to my clients, the commissioners, to decide whether to proceed to trial or resolve this,” Lackie said.