christine taylor

The state Court of Appeals has overturned a portion of a 2005 civil court verdict that found The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints financially liable after a church member sexually abused his two stepdaughters.

The appellate court ruled on Tuesday that while the Mormon church still owed the two stepdaughters a little more than $1.2 million because a bishop kept one from reporting the abuse, the church was not financially responsible for the stepfather's liability in the case. That decision will reduce the amount that was awarded to the girls in 2005, although attorneys were not immediately sure by how much.

The two sisters, Jessica and Ashley Cavalieri, had originally won a $4.2 million award in a King County civil trial that held the stepfather, Peter N. Taylor, and the church liable for the years of abuse.

Attorneys for the sisters said it is not clear how much of the award's balance the victims will be able to recover from the stepfather, a former high priest in the Federal Way stake of the Mormon church who was sentenced to prison.

The appeals court found that the bishop did "intentionally, willfully and deliberately" silence one of the sisters by telling her that disclosing the abuse to authorities would destroy her family, according to Tim Kosnoff, an attorney for the sisters.

The appeals court, however, refused to hold the church financially responsible for the criminal actions of the stepfather. The court of appeals also ruled that a bishop in the church is not similar to a social worker and is not required to report incidents of abuse to law-enforcement or child-protection agencies.

Kosnoff said he disagrees with the court's ruling and believes that the church and stepfather are equally liable under Washington state law. He said the sisters' legal team may appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

"You cannot have this group of people evade the responsibility of reporting to the police or CPS simply because they are not getting paid," Kosnoff said. "It's a dangerous situation for children in a religious environment where they are trained to take all their problems to the bishop."

Thomas Frey, an attorney for the church, said his clients are pleased with the legal clarification that significantly reduces the church's financial liability to the sisters.

The sisters, who agreed to let their names be used in media reports in the hopes it would help other abused children, filed the lawsuit in 2002 against the church and their former stepfather. Both are now in their 20s.

According to the suit, Taylor abused the older girl for about six years before she confided to her church's bishop about the abuse.

Instead of helping her or even telling her mother, the bishop urged the family to work out their problems through worship and prayer and cautioned her that public disclosure of the abuse could lead to the family's ruin, the lawsuit claimed.



The abuse continued for five more years, and Taylor also began abusing the younger girl, the lawsuit claimed.

A King County civil jury found that the church was liable for intentional misconduct and negligence and ordered the church to pay most of the award. The remainder of the award was to be paid by the stepfather.

Taylor, who was "disfellowshipped" from the church, pleaded guilty to first-degree child molestation in 2001 and was sentenced to more than four years in prison.


Christine (Tina) Taylor McAfee, of Neshkoro, WI., died peacefully in her home surrounded by the love of family and friends on Sunday, September 16, 2007. Tina was born on October 31, 1915, on the Taylor homestead and farm near Lakeview, Ohio, the first child of Gordon and Myrtle (Van Horn) Taylor. In the next few years she welcomed the birth of her brother Gordon Lowell and sister Alice, both very much loved by Christine throughout her life. She graduated from grade and high schools in the Lakeview, Ohio, area and studied nursing at White Cross Hospital School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio. In 1940, she graduated as a Registered Nurse (RN). From 1940 to 1945 Tina worked as a private duty nurse, camp nurse at Camp Ohio, night nurse at Mary Rutan Hospital in Bellefountain, Ohio, and as an obstetrics nurse at St. Rita's Hospital in Lima, Ohio. In early 1945, Christine joined the American Red Cross Nursing Service and, soon after, was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps. She served at Fort Knox, Kentucky, nursing wounded and ill soldiers, until leaving the Army in 1946.


On December 13, 1945, Tina was married to William H. (Mac) McAfee in Elizabethtown, KY. After Mac was discharged from the Army, the McAfee's briefly lived in Hinsdale, IL., and then settled, in 1949, near Blackbird Point on Big Green Lake, WI. There they farmed, operated a landscaping business, and raised their seven children. Christine returned to nursing in 1968, serving as a nurse, nursing supervisor and director of nursing at Riverdale Manor in Markesan, WI., Parkview Nursing Home in Ripon, WI., and Sunnyview Nursing Home in Princeton, WI., until retiring in 1979.


Tina was a founding member of the Terrace Shores Evangelical Free Church on Big Green Lake. She served the church faithfully until she and Mac retired in 1979 and moved to a rural area near Clinton, AZ. There they much enjoyed gardening, horticulture, serving in the local church and supporting a small churches ministry. In 1989, they moved to Fancy Gap, VA., where they continued enjoying their hobbies and again served in their local church. Following her husband Mac's death in 1992, Christine moved to Neshkoro, WI., and settled near three of her children.


Tina faithfully and obediently lived out her lifelong Christian faith, crediting God for all good things and her own strength of character. She was an absolutely outstanding mother, grandmother and great grandmother, joyfully and faithfully loving and blessing all of her offspring to the very end of her life. She often said that she took the greatest pleasure in being a Mom, Grammy and Great Grammy.


Christine was preceded in death by her husband, Mac; brother, Lowell; sister, Alice; and grandson, Benjamin. She is survived by her children; John (Shawn) McAfee of Omro, WI., James McAfee of Renton, WA., Alice (Mark) Schoebel of Neshkoro, WI., Patricia McAfee of Neshkoro, WI., Robert (Laura) McAfee of Campbell, NY., Mary (Charles) Erickson of Missoula, MT. and Bill (Diane) McAfee of Clinton, WA.; her grandchildren, Matthew and spouse Angela, Teresa and husband Brock, Alicen, Willow, Sierra, Christine, Robert, Patrick, Shannon and Joshua; great grandchildren, McLane, Aidan, Emma, Lane, Avery, and Addison. Tina thanks her family and many friends for their love and support, especially her dear friend, Lenny Anschutz, who was indeed as a son to Tina.


The funeral service for Christine McAfee will be held at 11:00 a.m., on Monday, September 24, at the Terrace Shores Evangelical Free Church on Big Green Lake with Pastor Gary Zacharias officiating. Visitation will be in the church, at 10:00 a.m., preceding the service. She will be buried in the Markesan Cemetery with full military honors. Christine has asked that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to Terrace Shores Evangelical Free Church. Dedication" is, I suppose, a romantic comedy. The general plotline is boy meets girl, boy and girl don't much like each other, boy and girl realize they do like each other, boy does something stupid to lose girl, boy tries to win girl back.



But the similarities between this film and the genre's blueprint end on the surface.



There's the question of the lead character, for example. Usually in a romcom, we like both the boy and girl, even if they don't like each other (see "You've Got Mail").



As a matter of fact, I did like Henry, the depressed and possibly obsessive-compulsive children's book author played by Billy Crudup. But he's awfully hard to like.



"Life is nothing but the echo of joy disappearing into the great chasm of misery," Henry tells his partner, illustrator Rudy (Tom Wilkinson). Henry has issues ― he can't sleep in the same room as his (very soon ex-) girlfriend (Christine Taylor), and he can't get comfortable unless he's lying on the floor covered in books.



But it's not these tics that make him an unlikely romantic hero. He entertains youngsters with his work but seems intent on disillusioning them in real life. When the kindly Rudy takes time at a book signing to chat with a young fan, Henry asks him, "You want to buy her a drink, take her somewhere quiet?" To get rid of the girl, Henry tells her there's no Santa Claus. "Every other kid is going to be crushed when they find out," he says defensively. "She's way ahead of the game."



Rudy is a bit of an oddball himself ― the pair's recent best-seller "Marty the Beaver" was inspired by vintage porn ― but he's a father figure to Henry nonetheless. So Henry is adrift when Rudy takes ill and he's forced to work with a young newbie named Lucy (Mandy Moore).



Lucy is rather more likable than Henry, to say the least. But the empathetic young woman, perhaps practiced from dealing with her neurotic mother (Dianne Wiest, funny and typically just short of being over-the-top), sees that Henry's nasty wall is hiding a fractured and fragile soul.

The new fall TV season is upon us which means there's a new line-up of shows to discover. However, only a third of those shows will get a second season and, unfortunately, some will be worthy of a second (or third or fourth). As a fan of "Brilliant but Canceled" shows myself, here are a few shows that included gay characters and deserved a longer run.

My So-Called Life (ABC)



A teen drama that managed to find the fine line between exploring teen angst without letting their characters come off as shallow and self-obsessed, My So-Called Life managed to realistically explore issues teens faced, especially with gay teen Ricky Vasquez, memorably played by Wilson Cruz. Despite a loyal fanbase, the show struggled against Mad About You and a freshman Friends on Thursday nights and ABC canceled the series. Reruns on MTV, however, helped the show find an even larger audience.

Action! (Fox)



A cynical and bitter view of Hollywood, Action focused on Peter Dragon, a selfish and mean-spirited movie producer fighting to maintain his clout after his latest film bombs. Peter heaped abuse on his gay assistant Stuart (played by out actor Jack Plotnick) while repeatedly losing power games against Bobby Gianopolis, a gay mogul whose generous endowment would mesmerize Peter. One of Action's many memorable episodes came when Peter has sex with a closeted star (played by Richard Burgi) in order to convince him to stay closeted. The series also featured Fab Filippo, who'd later play Justin's violinist boyfrined on Queer as Folk, as a drug addicted young star.

So NoTORIous (VH-1)



By this point, I thought Kirstie Alley's Fat Actress had worn out my enjoyment of sitcoms where celebrities mock their image by playing fictionalized versions of themselves -- the template had begun to feel a little too familiar. However, Tori Spelling embraced the dysfunctional side of her image with an enthusiasm that made So NoTORIous' view of Hollywood dysfunction seem fresh. It was hard to miss Zachary Quinto (who would later bring sexy menace and hoyay action to Heroes as Sylar) as Tori's gay, Persian-American pal, Sasan. (One of Sasan's most memorably moments occurred when he joined a trendy church known for repressing its gay members -- seeing it as a good opportunity to easily pick up sexually frustrated gay celebrities.) Interestingly, So NoTORIous' final episode didn't air on VH-1, but on Logo.

Party Girl (Fox)



Sure, this sitcom pales in comparison to the film that inspired it. Still, it had a very talented cast with Christine Taylor, Swoosie Kurtz, Merrin Dungey and a pre-Hedwig John Cameron Mitchell who rose above the uninspired scripts to bring out some very funny moments. It was probably the lack of falafel purchases and punchlines about the Dewy Decimal system that did this one in, but in Party Girl's four episodes Taylor and Mitchell's characters had some great moments, like when Taylor referred to The Hardy Boys as 'those two gay kids who solved mysteries.' When Mitchell's character tried to correct her, she smiles and replies, "No, those were very different times."

Some of My Best Friends (CBS)



Unlike Party Girl this was a case where a sitcom was a big improvement on the movie that inspired it. Based on Kiss Me Guido, this sitcom cast Jason Bateman as a gay man who takes in a straight roommate (played by Danny Nucci) when he finds himself in need of some additional income. This Marc Cherry-written sitcom also introduced audiences to the hilarious Alec Mapa. On the bright side, the show's cancellation left Bateman free for Arrested Development.

The Crew (Fox)



Although it was largely dismissed as a Friends clone, I preferred this sitcom about flight attendants who shared an apartment (hey, that premise sounds familiar) for being more diverse than Friends ever was. David Burke played Paul, a gay flight attendant who (conveniently) was a bit of a loser in love with poor self-esteem, a trait that prevented him from casually dating as his friends did, but still got the occasional romantic storyline. I still quote Paul's memorable line where he declared fuscili "the gayest of the pastas" in an episode where his single friends drag him to a cruisy grocery store. Burke went on to play Arthur in the short-lived live action Tick sitcom and recently played Kitty Walker's TV producer on Brothers & Sisters.

Popular (The WB)



This entry actually did get a second season, but it ended with a tangled web of cliffhangers (which included RuPaul as Mary Cherry's long lost father) that left fans hanging. Popular was our first exposure to Ryan Murphy's work, and the quirky mix of heartfelt drama and absurd campiness made for an addictive series. Popular was also our first glimpse of Ugly Betty hottie Christopher Gorham.

Wonderfalls (Fox)



Fox probably cemented his reputation as a heartbreaker for people who enjoy quality television when this quirky comedy, which managed to combine a cynical protagonist with an optimistic tone (while never leaving a whiff of schmaltz), was quietly put on the air in a bad time slot and taken off the air a few weeks later. Written by the out Bryan Fuller, this strange series followed a modern day Joan of Arc who received cryptic messages from inanimate objects that led her to help people. Fuller said that if there had been a second season, we would have seen Jaye's lesbian sister, Sharon, give birth through a child conceived through immaculate conception.