Miltenberg, Warshow: “Wrestler at Center of Bergen Catholic Sex Abuse Lawsuit Speaks Out for the First Time,” North Jersey Record

In a controversial lawsuit, Anthony Asatrian accuses David Bell and others at Bergen Catholic of sex abuse, sexual harassment and sexual assault. … The lawsuit also references text messages in which Bell told Asatrian that “he loved him.” Lawyers for both sides in Asatrian’s lawsuit are scheduled to gather Friday afternoon before a Superior Court judge in Bergen County to present arguments on a variety of legal motions — one of which is to dismiss several elements of the case.  … While the text messages are not scheduled to be part of this Friday’s court hearing, they are likely to loom as a powerful backdrop to future legal arguments, not just in Asatrian’s case but perhaps in the nation’s larger debate over sexual abuse in the workplace. “The texts are a centerpiece of the case,” said one of Asatrian’s lawyers, Diana Warshow. Warshow, who is teamed up with Andrew Miltenberg, a nationally known sex abuse attorney in Manhattan, and Hackensack attorney David Eisbrouch, argues that the texting between Bell and Asatrian could become a new standard for what constitutes sexual abuse. “How would people feel if this was a female student and this was a male coach on a volleyball team, texting ‘I love you’?” Warshow said. “As soon as you take Tony and replace him with a female student, I don’t think anyone would be splitting hairs over whether this is harassment. This can happen to male students, too.”

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