St. Clair County Associate Judge Heinz Rudolph has set an April 29 hearing in a civil lawsuit against former Madison County attorney Lowell Thomas Lakin.
The suit, originally filed under seal in Madison County, accuses Lakin of child sexual abuse. The accusations in the civil lawsuit launched an investigation which resulted in Lakin’s 2008 federal conviction on drug charges.
Plaintiff’s attorney Ed Unsell of East Alton, who was allowed to proceed with the civil suit after the state finished its case against Lakin in 2011, filed a motion for summary judgment Feb. 27.
The issue decided in a “prior criminal proceeding” is identical to the issue in the case, whether Defendant L. Thomas Lakin performed an act of sexual penetration on John Doe, a minor, according to Unsell’s motion.
According to the first amended complaint, Lakin, now 72, was an adult friend of the families of the minors he is accused of abusing and had custody, control and dominion over them.
Plaintiff Mary Doe, mother of John and Joseph Doe, was an employee of Lakin and the former Lakin Law Firm, the suit claims.
The lawsuit accuses Lakin, then 64 or 65 years old, of sexually abusing Mary Doe’s sons and harassing her daughter. He also is accused of filing harassing lawsuits against Mary Doe.
Mary Doe seeks more than $75,000 in damages.
Samantha Unsell of Keefe & Keefe also represents the plaintiff.
Lakin is represented by Clyde Kuehn of Belleville.
He is scheduled to be released from Fort Worth Federal Correctional Institution in Texas on Nov. 30.
St. Clair County case number 06-L-363
April hearing set in Lakin sexual abuse case
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