Auburn woman wins $1.3 million in molest case
Lincoln pastor allegedly never reported child’s claims
An Auburn woman was awarded $1.3 million Thursday after a judge agreed with her claim that her stepfather molested her when she was a child. In May 2007, at the age of 27, Jeanne Schreib filed a civil lawsuit against her stepfather claiming that he had molested her between the ages of 8 and 14 at their Lincoln home. On Thursday, Schreib and her attorney, Joseph George revealed the outcome of that suit and Schreib’s reward following a Nov. 9 entry of judgment detailing the restitution amount. “I’m really excited that there’s some vindication and a judge has ruled that this happened,” Schreib told the Journal Thursday. Sacramento County Judge David Abbott ruled in an August statement of decision that the “preponderance of evidence” supported Schreib’s claims of abuse by her stepfather, Lincoln resident Gale Morgan. Morgan denied Schreib’s claims and he and other family members described Schreib as a “drama queen,” according to the statement of decision. During the trial, Morgan’s attorney, Michael Wise, raised Schreib’s prior felony embezzlement conviction and said it was reason to question her credibility as a witness. Also, Pastor Glenn Vance of Salt Mine Vine of Life Ministries Church in Lincoln was named in the decision. Vance said Schreib initially told him that she was being molested but he did not believe her. Vance did not report the molestation to police, Abbott wrote. In his decision, Abbott said that testimony from two psychology experts regarding Schreib’s mental state and stating that she had classic symptoms of someone who had been molested aided her case. Schreib said the embezzlement occurred while she was working as a bookkeeper for Airweld, Inc., from November 2005 until she was arrested in July 2006. She said she pleaded no contest and did not dispute the $54,000 restitution order. Schreib also spent two weeks in Placer County Jail as a part of her sentence. She said since then, she’s made monthly payments and said she will use payments from her civil lawsuit verdict to pay off the remaining amount. Schreib said she believes her desire to “fulfill my needs” by embezzling money stemmed from the years of molestation she endured. She said after she was convicted of embezzlement, she sought counseling and was directed by a new pastor to read a book about child molestation and its effects. Upon reading the book, she realized she was suffering from the impacts of molestation. Schreib said initially she reached out to her mother and stepfather and asked that they go to co-counseling with her to address the issue. Prior to that attempt, she said she had a relationship with her parents and they would talk over the phone and celebrate holidays together. Schreib said the molestation was the “elephant in the room.” However, Schreib said her parents were unwilling to meet for counseling when she finally faced the problem and she eventually filed the civil lawsuit. “The painful part of this is my whole goal was family reconciliation,” Schreib said. “I just wanted to help and I just wanted for all of us to come together. That’s what I tried to do in the beginning.” While most of the abuse occurred in the family’s Lincoln home, Schreib said there were isolated incidents that took place in Sacramento County. She said she tried the case in Sacramento because of convenience for her attorney. She said at this time she does not plan to file a civil lawsuit in Placer County. In November 1997, Schreib said she told her story to a Placer County Sheriff’s Office deputy but was later told that the case would be too hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Schreib said she hopes this civil court judge’s ruling will encourage Placer law enforcement and the District Attorney’s Office to revisit the case. Schreib said she hopes her story can help others who have been victims of sexual abuse to come forward. She added that she hopes those who hear of these incidents take them seriously and report them. “My message is to not be silent, to be brave and go to a trusted authority,” Schreib said. Morgan’s attorney, Wise, did not return a call for comment. Vance did not return a call or e-mail for comment. Jenifer Gee can be reached at jeniferg@goldcountrymedia.com.
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I would really hold off judgement on this one. I would suggest folks read the Bee for a little more on this story, this was a civil case, not a criminal case, there was no Jury and basically came down to a he said she said, there is a lot of debate on repressed memories and othe issues that have come out regarding similar issues not to mention questionable decisions judges. An appeal has been filed, and I would not be suprised if there was a different outcome down the line. I have personal knowledge of the ability of this young lady to manipulate & fabricate, I have also been the subject of false allegations and accusations from her, at least she was later found guilty as a criminal in that chain of events. That being said, if true, I have no compassion at all for child molesters & feel the full force of justice should be applied if found guilty in a criminal court of law.
A $1.3 million judgment is worthless unless the defendant has major assets or insurance coverage. There is no insurance coverage for child molesters, so unless the defendant has real estate (other than the family home) or an investment portfolio, the judgment may be uncollectable.
To blame molestiation as the cause for her deceit and theft, tells me that this young lady has done nothing for herself in the way of truth-seeking. She has found a scapegoat for her own actions instead of finding healing and forgiveness for someone else's...
Sounds like this lady didn't try to better herself in the first place so i don't know what suing her stepfather would have accomplish except for making her parents not talk to her now. She better hope her stepfather actually has 1.3 million otherwise she just wasted her time.
If these allegations are true, then I'm sure, with therapy, she can find healing. Forgiveness, not so much. I know I would never forgive a pedephile who sexually abused me for 7 YEARS. When a child is subjected to emotional, physical or sexual abuse, it leaves deep, long lasting psychological scars well into adulthood. These people can act out in ways that do not seem related to the abuse. These folks will also engage in destructive behavior (like stealing). I'v had some cases where the adult female of sexual abuse will become morbidly obese, citing, "this way no one will touch me." It's a psychological defense mechanism.
Again, that is if these allegations are true.
Sorry, I meant "pedophile"
mfg, her manipulating and fabricating could be part of a character disorder that may have resulted from the abuse.
I am very sorry for this women if she was really molested. But looking at her past, she does seem a little shady.
Maybe her molestiation caused her shadyness but it really is no excuse to steal, lie, and manipulate.
Analyst, I can only judge on my first hand interactions with this womon, and based on that I have to seriously question the "verdict". If it was a criminal case, or if Jury's were involved I might have more faith in the judgement. I do know this person is used to getting what she wants & has shown she will do whatever she can to get it, why she is like she is I do not know, it seems to me there are a lot of "reasons" for people to act like they do, but the frankly they need to be held responsible for those actions and take responsibility for them. There is an appeal in process, and for me the jury is still out on this one, again if the allegations are true & there is a proponderance of evidence to proceed with a criminal case, then I am sure the Placer County DA would have or will persue it, but there is a big difference between winning a civil case & proving a criminal case, again I hold criminal convictions on a higher level than civil convictions.
All of you are missing the whole point of this brave woman coming forward and missing what her whole message in the end was. AWARENESS! She is trying to raise awareness about childhood sexual abuse and it's effects on children into adulthood so that maybe some other child can be spared all the trauma she has sufferred. I don't feel she is blaming her past for her actions, they were simply a symptom. A judge not only ruled in her favor but ruled BIG including PUNITIVE damages which only 4% of civil cases ever get.
Common Symptoms in Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse:
Physical Presentations
Chronic pelvic pain
Gastrointestinal symptoms/distress
Musculoskeletal complaints
Obesity, eating disorders
Insomnia, sleep disorders
Pseudocyesis
Sexual dysfunction
Asthma, respiratory ailments
Addiction
Chronic headache
Chronic back pain
Psychologic and Behavioral Presentations
Depression and anxiety
Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms
Dissociative states
Repeated self-injury
Suicide attempts
Lying, stealing, truancy, running away
Poor contraceptive practices
Compulsive sexual behaviors
Sexual dysfunction
Somatizing disorders
Eating disorders
Poor adherence to medical recommendations
Intolerance of or constant search for intimacy
Expectation of early death
GET EDUCATED BEFORE YOU JUDGE!!!
I know first hand what effect it can have on your life when you are molested and almost no one believes you. Her acting out could very well be a product of the years of holding all her pain inside, but it does not excuse it. Not being believed and treated as a "drama queen" can cause you to look for other ways to dull the pain. Predators choose victims that are emotional and easy to manipulate and thus less likely too be believed. As for me I hope she finds some peace in finally being believed.
According to court documents both parties waived a jury Mr. MFG Controversy............you think that criminal court judges are more "honest" and "fair" in their rulings than civil court judges? I don't think so. It was a 7 day trial- there was obviously MUCH evidence to be heard, not just a he said/she said story. Let's not rely on a newspaper to give us the whole story.
Will somebody please explain our judicial system? My 2nd day on the job I discovered that this woman embezzled @ $100k from the company I worked for (I replaced her when she Abruptly quit). My wonderful boss only received a very small amount of restitution and now she gets this award! Based on her lack of Integrity I ...believe that she fabricated this story because she can't get a job anywhere that she can have control of company funds to rip off!
Please do not have pity on this Manipulative Cry Baby! She's just trying to justify her deceitful actions! What she aledges her "step-dad" did to her does not give her the right to rip off her employers! And this was not the only company she ripped off! This is the only company that caught her!
darksdeebar- you are obviously very uneducated not only about the judicial system but about people who suffer from sexual abuse. But you are right about one thing....it doesn't give her the right to embezzle and from what the story says she has and is being held accountable for what she has done wrong.
Jholland - I don't know why you are have pity for her! She is nothing but a Manipulative Cry Baby! And yes, I AM EDUCATED when it comes to sexual abuse, being a survivor myself! I spent many years in the same situation and I NEVER stole from anyone!
That is no excuse! I also happen to be the one that caught her hand in the cookie jar and witnessed the devastation she caused to the company. She buys herself a Denali, a boat, quads, a new laptop and who knows what else she bought and I am working hard trying to repair the damage she caused! The paper said she stole @$54k that was only the amount that was hard enough to stick! Try close to $100k if she's as remorseful as she's claiming let's see her fork out and pay back the $100k with interest to this company. Because of her the company had to move out of Auburn (to cut costs) too far for me to commute, and I lost a great job with the greatest boss anyone could ask for. And let me give you another FYI, her mom & Step-dad were there at her 1st hearing after she got arrested, when she realized the trouble she was in and needed money for a lawyer, she asked her folks and they denied her, it was after that when she decided to sue her step-dad! She's nothing but a money hungry conniving little baby. And one last tidbit when the detective arrested her at her new place of employment, he asked her why she did it, her response with a smirk on her face was "because it was easy"
If you were TRULY a survivor of the type of abuse that she sufferred- including the severity and length- there is no way you could not have compassion for someone for calling out their perpetrator. Allegations of sexual abuse made by a minor are RARELY false and usually underrated. According to the documents she proved her case that she made claims of sexual abuse over 15 years ago. And I never said she had any right to do what she did- I said she was tried and convicted and has paid her debt according to the law.
Did I miss something here? Where, exactly, is the evidence? People develop all kinds of mental madies fro many, many reasons...other than being molested. If this case had much validity why weren't criminal charges sought?
Do you remember the McMartin and other cases of the 1980's where "suppressed memories" were claimed by psychodocs? Millions of dollars in prosecutions, dozens of lives ruined, ridiculous tales of tunnels under day care centers and satanic rituals...all turned out to be lies pushed by trial-hungry prosecutors and psychobabbling star-wannabees.
Our system of justice is based on facts and proof, not accusations and uncorroborated stories. This doesn't seem to fit.
I agree with these posts. Her past is no excuse for what she did, and she needs to be held accountable. I'm just offering a possible explaination as to why she is the way she is.
http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx/topheadlines/0/APNews/Top-Headlines/20091114/U_US-Crusading-Prosecutor?pageid=1
Excerpt, AP story:
"The molesters drank blood, the children said, and hung them from hooks after forcing them to have sex with their parents. They murdered babies, prosecutors told jurors, and snapped photographs as the horror unfolded. Ed Jagels, renowned as one of California's toughest district attorneys, built his career on the Kern County child molestation cases of the 1980s, putting more than two dozen men and women behind bars to serve decades-long sentences for abusing children. Appellate judges now say most of those crimes never happened.
Still, generations of voters have embraced the crusading prosecutor's tough-on-crime agenda in this blue-collar basin just a mountain range north of Los Angeles.
Now, as Jagels prepares to retire, the get-tough laws he championed are being criticized in a state crippled by soaring prison costs. And some of those he put away are going public with stories of wrongful conviction in a documentary film narrated by Sean Penn, one of his most ardent critics.
The Bakersfield trials -- and half a dozen similar cases that rippled across America during the hysteria of that period -- are widely acknowledged to have punished the innocent. Most convictions relied solely on children's testimony, and the state attorney general ultimately found county investigators coerced their young witnesses into lying on the stand...etc."
The reason the company she worlked for left town is becaust the owner did not have a clue as to how to run a successful business, or who to trust and depend on for sound business decisions, plans to move were in place well before any embezzlement . Multiple business' run by the owner went out of business, & I am not aware of ANY employee of the company that was educated past high school. The fact that a company that was struggling as it was did not find this fraud earlier shows the level of competence in its owner & management - the owner made his own bed on this one, but it does not excuse the manipulative criminal & deceiptful actions of this woman who as I mention is a confirmend liar, criminal, embezzler....& I know first hand of false accusations made by her - basically she will say or do anyghing to get what she wants. I was not in trial, I do not know the whole story - I only know what I saw of her, as well as the understanding that based on the evidence presented to the Placer County District Attorney's office they did not move forward on this case & based on that I personally question the award. Again jholland I have no pity for the accused if truly guilty, & have no room at all for forgiveness for mollesters.
The greatest boss! Too funny, he was on the loosing end of hundreds of thousands of dollars in wrongful termination suits & lucky more were not filed, almost every business he touched went out of business, yes I am sure it was easy for her.
The reason the company she worlked for left town is becaust the owner did not have a clue as to how to run a successful business, or who to trust and depend on for sound business decisions, plans to move were in place well before any embezzlement . Multiple business' run by the owner went out of business, & I am not aware of ANY employee of the company that was educated past high school. The fact that a company that was struggling as it was did not find this fraud earlier shows the level of competence in its owner & management - the owner made his own bed on this one, but it does not excuse the manipulative criminal & deceiptful actions of this woman who as I mention is a confirmend liar, criminal, embezzler....& I know first hand of false accusations made by her - basically she will say or do anyghing to get what she wants. I was not in trial, I do not know the whole story - I only know what I saw of her, as well as the understanding that based on the evidence presented to the Placer County District Attorney's office they did not move forward on this case & based on that I personally question the award. Again jholland I have no pity for the accused if truly guilty, & have no room at all for forgiveness for mollesters.
The greatest boss! Too funny, he was on the loosing end of hundreds of thousands of dollars in wrongful termination suits & lucky more were not filed, almost every business he touched went out of business, yes I am sure it was easy for her.
Question - Why is it that she waited 13 years after the abuse supposedly stopped to pursue any form of charges?? Answer – It was a matter of convenience – she needed money!!! So a civil (money only) case was filed. Based on the history of embezzlement, she is willing to do anything to get money – keep that in mind.
Based on what I know, everything was normal up to that point in 2006 when the embezzlement arrest occurred – There were many family events (birthdays, holidays, etc) shared together at the family home. In my opinion, if there was in fact abuse, as soon as you left the place were the supposed abuse took place, isn’t that is the last place you would want to return? But instead, she continued to return until she was told that her parents could not assist her financially in her embezzlement case – this was something she would need to do on her own. (Trying to teach accountably to their child) Well, once she realized that she was going to have to figure it out on her own – she pulled out her manipulation hat. That what she does – manipulate – things are NEVER her fault – so she needed to figure out a way for the embezzlement to not be her fault!
Let’s get to the bottom line - why she sued? Well as a convicted felon she will find it very difficult to earn an income. Just based on the standard of living that she became used to (embezzling over $100k in just a few short months) she developed that taste for money and things. To maintain that high standard of living the money needs to come from somewhere!!??!!
People please understand – she is a manipulator – always has been and always will be. The newspaper has just become another one of “her victims of manipulation”.
In reading all of these comments, I come away with a few opinions. As a victim/survivor of incest I can honestly say there is a lot of misinformation out there still! I was molested by my father for 5 years, ages 12-17. I ran away from home at 17 and I'm quite sure that was the only way I could escape the molestations, that went on nearly everyday, in one way or another. I never told anyone about this during that time, except for a priest and he just asked me if I was concerned about getting pregnant! That's how uninformed people were back in the 60's. Also, the fact that my bio-dad was a police officer, I didn't feel anyone would believe me. Until my bio-dad was arrested for other molestations, I thought it had ended when I told my stepmother about it after my daughter was born and I explained why I would never bring my daughter to the house. I was an alcoholic and drug user for many years and lost custody of my daughter when she was only 4, because my ex-husband was paranoid about her being molested by anyone I was related to or involved with!
I can sympathize with this woman, although I chose to better myself and not look for pity. Molestation causes different reactions from each victim, we choose to handle it in our own way, it's not a one size fits all. I only hope she can find peace somewhere in her future.
When a child is molested, especially by a trusted family member or friend, it will affect you for the rest of your life!