THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 19, 1995 TAG: 9510190361
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
A young girl who was the first victim of convicted child molester Charles R. Vette in 1989 has won a $425,000 settlement from the owners of the East Ocean View apartment complex that hired Vette as resident manager.
The out-of-court settlement of the girl's lawsuit was approved Wednesday by Circuit Judge John E. Clarkson.
Six more lawsuits by other Vette victims, all young boys, are pending. Each seeks $5.5 million in damages and they are not likely to be settled soon, if at all, both sides agree.
The remaining cases pose two legal questions:
Are the owners of the apartment complex liable for the six remaining molestations, since none of the victims lived at the complex? The girl was a tenant.
If the owners are liable, does their $1 million insurance policy cover each victim, or must the $1 million be split among all seven victims?
Vette molested six boys and one girl, ages 8 to 13, in his apartment at 9620 13th Bay St. in 1989. He was convicted of 12 counts of child molestation and sentenced to five life terms in prison.
The apartment complex was recently torn down as part of the redevelopment of East Ocean View.
During Vette's criminal trial, the victims testified about a slumber party in Vette's apartment in which Vette got the boys drunk, locked the door and enticed them out of their clothes after showing pornographic films.
The lawsuits, filed by Norfolk lawyer Jeffrey A. Breit, claim Vette was ``negligently hired, selected and retained and supervised'' as resident manager. At the time, Vette was on parole, having served four years in prison for molesting a 5-year-old Virginia Beach girl.
Breit says Vette should not have been hired without a background check, which would have revealed his criminal record.
``You are hiring the guy and you are creating this image for the public. . Breit said.
Now that the first case is settled - requiring a judge's approval because the plaintiff is under age 18 - attention shifts to the other six victims. In these cases, the owners' attorney, James A. Gorry III, argues that the owners are not liable because the victims did not live at the complex.
``Our position is that any negligent hiring had nothing to do with their situation,'' Gorry said. ``He (Vette) could have been a tenant there. It just didn't matter. . . . Even if it is negligent hiring, you don't get to (the owners) because that's not the proximate cause of these young boys' injuries.''
A separate issue is the $1 million insurance coverage. Clarkson has ruled that the $1 million must cover all victims. After deducting $425,000 for the first settlement, that would leave $575,000 for the remaining six victims, or $95,833 each if they win their cases.
Breit has appealed the insurance ruling to the state Supreme Court. A ruling there is expected in December. ILLUSTRATION: Charles R. Vette was convicted of molesting a girl and six boys
in his E. Ocean View apartment.
KEYWORDS: SETTLEMENT LAWSUIT MOLESTATION CHILD ABUSE CHILD SEXUAL
ABUSE by CNB