Former Bishop Is Key Witness in Abuse Suits

Former Bishop Phillip Straling of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Reno has been named as a key witness in more than 150 lawsuits in Southern California against priests accused of molesting children, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Straling himself is not accused of abuse. The suits allege that he knew or should have known that some priests were having sex with children in his former Diocese of San Bernardino, but that he did nothing to stop them, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Some suits accuse Straling of negligence, but don’t identify him by name.

“We don’t know if Straling knew anything, but as leader, all knowledge of employees is imputed to him,” said William Light, a Riverside lawyer who is handling some of the suits.

Straling was bishop in San Bernardino from 1978 to 1995, when he moved to Reno. He retired in June at 72.

Straling referred all questions to the San Bernardino Diocese.

“I tell you, I can’t comment on any of those things,” Straling said. “I’ve been away for 10 years and it would be unfair to comment. Everything is being handled down there.”

Straling said his retirement, which came three years earlier than the normal age for a bishop to step down, had nothing to do with the lawsuits. In June, he said he no longer had the stamina to lead the Reno Diocese.

The Rev. Howard Lincoln, a spokesman for the San Bernardino Diocese, praised Straling’s efforts to protect children.

“Bishop Straling is a holy and gentle man with a kind heart,” Lincoln told the Gazette-Journal. “He never knowingly placed children in danger by the placement of a priest. He did not shuffle priests.”

But John Manly, a Costa Mesa lawyer handling many of the suits, said he’s eager for Straling to testify about some of the most notorious priests in the country.

They include Jesus Dominguez, a former Straling aide in San Bernardino and now a fugitive, who was charged in February with 58 counts of sexual abuse for allegedly abusing two teenage altar boys in the 1980s at parishes in Coachella and Perris.

Paul Shanley, a key figure in the Boston clergy abuse scandal, was moved to Straling’s diocese in 1990. While working in the Big Bear area, Shanley was accused of molesting a young man.

Shanley was convicted in February on a child rape charge in a case stemming from his time in Boston and was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

No claims of abuse surfaced in Reno during Straling’s tenure as bishop, a diocese official said.