A former Wyoming Catholic youth minister and teacher in Casper sexually assaulted three boys while they took part in youth programs facilitated by a local church and the Diocese of Cheyenne, a lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges.  The civil complaint alleges that then-Wyoming Catholic youth minister Doug Hudson sexually assaulted the three boys in the 1990s. The complaint also lists the Diocese of Cheyenne, which oversees parishes throughout Wyoming, and Our Lady of Fatima Church in Casper as defendants, stating that they failed to “supervise and control” Hudson and protect the plaintiffs, which allowed for the alleged sexual assaults to occur.  A spokesperson for the diocese declined to comment on the lawsuit until diocesan officials have consulted with legal counsel. He said in an email to WyoFile that the diocese plans to respond publicly to the allegations “in the near future.” WyoFile attempted to contact Hudson through multiple phone numbers listed online under his name and through other people. Some calls were disconnected. WyoFile left voice messages at two numbers. A reporter called another, but the person who answered hung up when the reporter asked if the number belonged to Hudson. Other people that WyoFile asked didn’t have Hudson’s contact information or declined to share it.  Hudson’s court summons lists a North Carolina address, although WyoFile found records that appear to show a person with his name moved from North Carolina to Kentucky in 2024. The allegations As minors, the plaintiffs had taken part in Our Lady of Fatima Church’s youth programs, where Hudson worked as a youth minister under the Diocese of Cheyenne, the complaint states. All three allege that Hudson sexually assaulted them during one of these programs.  The Diocese of Cheyenne and Our Lady of Fatima Church provided Hudson with housing on its Casper campus for conducting youth activities and services. Two of Hudson’s accusers say he assaulted them at that home, the complaint states.  Plaintiffs allege that the Diocese of Cheyenne and Our Lady of Fatima Church knew Hudson was inviting minors to his house on campus. They also believe the diocese and the church were aware that Hudson had organized at least one off-campus overnight trip for youth activities and services.  This June 13, 2019, file photo shows the offices for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cheyenne and the Cathedral of St. Mary in Cheyenne. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver) At the time, Hudson was supervised by Father Pietro Philip Colibraro, the lawsuit states. The Diocese of Cheyenne acknowledged a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse, reported in 2005, against Colibraro that involved an adolescent male. Colibraro, who died in 2017, became co-pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Church in 1990, then sole pastor of the church in 1997. He stayed there until his retirement in 2001.  According to the complaint, Colibraro was warned that Hudson was “plying adolescent males with alcohol.” The lawsuit doesn’t say who warned Colibraro or how this information came to light.  The lawsuit alleges Hudson sexually assaulted plaintiffs Anthony Jacobson and Ryan Axlund in 1995 and 1997, respectively, at the house provided by the Diocese of Cheyenne and the church. At the time, they were both minors.  According to the complaint, Hudson had “plied” each of them “with copious amounts of alcohol, including Southern Comfort” and assaulted them when they were intoxicated. Both “passed out from the alcohol intoxication,” the lawsuit states.  The complaint alleges Hudson sexually assaulted another plaintiff, James Stress, in 1996 or 1997 at a hotel during an off-campus overnight trip. According to the complaint, Hudson was assigned through the church’s youth ministry to be Stress’ personal counselor. The minister was also Stress’ teacher at Saint Anthony Tri-Parish Catholic School.  At the hotel, Hudson gave Stress “copious amounts of alcohol” and sexually assaulted him while he was intoxicated, according to the lawsuit. Stress eventually blacked out, the document states.  The complaint seeks damages of at least $50,000 per plaintiff to pay for their “bodily injury,” including past and future medical expenses and “mental pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.”  Statute of limitations While allegations of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic leaders have occurred across the country, prosecutors in many states have run out of time to press charges.  Wyoming, however, is one of a handful of states that doesn’t have a statute of limitations for child sexual abuse crimes, meaning criminal charges can be brought at any time in the future. For civil litigation, like the case against Hudson, accusers can file a complaint within eight years after a minor turns 18, or within three years after the “discovery” of injury caused by childhood sexual abuse, whichever is later.  While he didn’t speak specifically about his clients, Dallas Laird, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, said that sometimes people “don’t discover what happened to them until they wonder why their life has gone the way it has, and they go to therapy.”  The lawsuit states that Jacobson and Axlund discovered in March 2024 and Stress discovered in April 2024 that Hudson had allegedly sexually assaulted them. It does not provide additional details about those discoveries. According to Laird, one of the plaintiffs made a complaint to Casper police “when he found out what he thought happened to him.” A spokesperson for the Casper Police Department didn’t confirm or deny this, stating in an email that Wyoming law bars the department “from disclosing any information that may reasonably identify a victim or suspect in a sexual assault investigation until that investigation has been formally filed in district court.”  Laird, who lives in Casper, said he had never talked with Hudson before. “But I hope to be able to take his deposition at some point,” he added. Two Cheyenne attorneys, James and Michael Fitzgerald, are also representing the plaintiffs.  Laird said he advised his clients not to speak with the press.  In this Sept. 19, 1988, file photo, the Rev. Joseph Hart dispenses communion during an outdoor Mass celebrated for participants of the Basque Festival in Buffalo. (AP Photo/Dean Wariner, File) The new allegations add to a list of abuse accusations against Catholic leaders and staff in Wyoming, perhaps the most infamous being former Wyoming Bishop Joseph Hart, who faced multiple sexual abuse allegations found credible by the Diocese of Cheyenne. People first came forward with allegations of abuse in 1989, but Hart, who died in 2023, steadfastly maintained his innocence, and a Vatican investigation later exonerated him of multiple allegations.  Meanwhile, Wyoming’s current bishop, Steven Biegler, announced in 2018 that an examination initiated by the diocese and conducted by an outside investigator concluded Hart sexually abused two boys in Wyoming. A month later, the diocese reported a third abuse allegation against Hart that it deemed credible. There are currently 12 individuals with substantiated allegations of abuse against them listed on the Diocese of Cheyenne’s website.  WyoFile editors Tennessee Watson and Joshua Wolfson contributed reporting. The post Ex-Wyoming Catholic youth minister, diocese face lawsuit over sexual assault accusations involving 3 boys appeared first on WyoFile . ...read more read less