The man who filed a lawsuit claiming he was sexually assaulted by a Catholic teacher in Pueblo, but then on home video denied the abuse ever happened, now claims he really is a victim.Tom Monroe (pic'd here), 53, says his videotaped comments were taken out of context and he's blaming the Pueblo Police Department, the media, and his attorneys.
On the videotape that News First obtained, Monroe is on the phone and is heard saying, "I feel worse being called a victim because I know I'm really not and I know real victims who are not gonna get no help. But I guess what it is is, I'm being called a victim and I might get a million bucks. And these are real victims are getting nothing except more shame. And that's probably why I feel so bad about it."
The sex abuse issue came up in a lawsuit filed on behalf of 21 former Roncalli Catholic High School students, including Monroe, who allege they were sexually assaulted by Brother William Mueller 40 years ago. Even though Monroe is on videotape saying he was not a sex assault victim, he now claims he really was assaulted.
"Brother Mueller cornered me, physically restrained me, put me in a corner tried to grind on me, hump on me, put his hands down my pants, under my shirt," Monroe told News First.
We asked Monroe why he said on videotape "I feel worse being called a victim because I know I'm really not." Monroe first questioned whether that's what he really said, and we told him we have the raw video tape and it is what he said. "Well the (Pueblo Police) Internal Affairs investigation has had the home videos and they've been crafting things for over a year," Monroe said.
He further claimed that a Pueblo Police Detective "crafted" or "edited" his statements out of context. Monroe even wrote News First a letter, stating that the Detective was "demoted" for "maliciously pursuing" a case against him. We showed that letter to Pueblo Police Chief Jim Billings.
"There was a complaint filed by Mr. Monroe. Internal Affairs investigated it, the Detective was exonerated on all charges, meaning that he did his job properly," Billings went on to say that Monroe's allegations were found to be "without credibility."
News First has access to all the raw home videotapes that Monroe made. News First does not think Monroe's statements were altered, or taken out of context.
Monroe disagrees with News First, claiming that on the tape in question he's explaining that the court record is wrong when it states "While Tom played the trombone in the nude..." Brother Mueller "fondled his genitals."
Monroe now claims that never happened, that his attorney Jeffrey Herman embellished the story when he filed the case in 2005.
News First asked Monroe since he knew it was false when it was filed in court, why did it take 2 years for him to forward and why did he come forward only after the videotapes were aired in the media?
"Good question," Monroe said, "the hard question is ask the lawyers why they would sit there and take my original Roncalli statements, which qualify as an abuse victim, why they would sit there and put a different spin on it when they filed."
Monroe's attorney hasn't returned our call for a response. He's based in Florida and has filed in Pueblo District Court to drop Monroe from the case.
Monroe says he's in the process of getting another attorney.
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