ACCORD IS REACHED IN THEATER SEX-ABUSE CASE

A plea-bargain agreement has been reached in the final sex-abuse case stemming from the lengthy investigation of the Minneapolis Children’s Theatre Co. and School.

Under the agreement outlined to Judge Neil Riley in Hennepin County District Court on Tuesday, charges against Sean McNellis will be dismissed in one year if he commits no further criminal violations.

McNellis, 23, is a former student and apprentice at the school and was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct for having sex with a 15-year-old girl who was a student at the theater.

As part of the agreement, McNellis admitted in court that he had sex with the girl in early 1983. His attorney, Scott Holdahl, said the girl, who will turn 17 this month, had approved the agreement.

According to the complaint filed against McNellis last spring, he and the girl saw each other frequently in 1983. The complaint said they often were together at McNellis’ home in the basement of the house of John Clark Donahue, former artistic director and founder of the theater.

The investigation into the theater and school resulted in charges against seven people. In addition to the McNellis case, the dispositions were a guilty plea by Donahue, two acquittals, two dismissals and one guilty verdict involving a man not connected with the theater who was accused of having sex with one of the students.

Donahue pleaded guilty in October to having sex with three 15-year-old male students at the theater. He is serving a year in the workhouse and will be on probation for 15 years, during which time he is to have no contact with the theater or unsupervised conduct with children.

John B. Davis Jr., executive director of the theater, said Wednesday that the school and theater are running extremely well this year, following a period of restructuring.