27-Year Abuse Tally Released by O.C. Church

Sixteen Orange County priests molested 47 children from 1976 through 2002, according to figures released Friday by Roman Catholic officials as part of a nationwide accounting by the church. But victim advocates say the numbers understate the problem.

The 16 priests for which the diocese believes there is credible evidence of abuse represent 2.7% of the 589 clergymen who served in the county during that period, which starts with the year the Diocese of Orange split from the Los Angeles Archdiocese. The report also concluded the diocese has paid $4.6 million to victims and $66,000 for counseling to victims and family members over those 27 years.

Church officials did not name any of the abusive priests. They said 12 have been removed from active ministry, two remain on administrative leave until their cases are adjudicated, one is deceased and one left the diocese to serve as a military chaplain for 22 years before the allegations were made against him.

The statistics were produced for a study commissioned by U.S. bishops that will be the first comprehensive measure of the severity of sexual abuse within the American church.

The study, to be compiled by John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, is to cover 1950 to 2002. The information will include the number of incidents, victims and priests involved nationally, along with the amount paid to victims by U.S. dioceses.

Statistics haven’t existed before in large part because each of the 195 dioceses operates independently and reports directly to the Vatican. The bishops plan to release the John Jay study Feb. 27.

Orange is the first of California’s 12 dioceses to publicize its findings, though others elsewhere in the country have been released. In September, the Archdiocese of Baltimore disclosed it had found credible accusations against 56 priests over 52 years. The Washington Archdiocese released in November a list of 26 priests believed to be molesters, including the names of the 16 accused clerics still living. Last month, the Diocese of Allentown, Pa., reported 27 priests had credible allegations of molestation in their past.

Most of the reporting dioceses have emphasized that most molestations happened before 1980. Church officials believe this is a sign that 1985 church reforms on sexual abuse began to work. However, leaders of advocate groups say it usually takes two decades before molestation victims are ready to come forward and that a true tally of more recent abuse may not be available for years.

In Orange County, leaders of victims’ groups and a plaintiff’s attorney contend church officials undercounted the sexually abusive priests and victims. They cite the estimated 50 lawsuits filed by victims in 2003 alone, during a yearlong suspension of the statute of limitations for certain sexual-abuse cases.

“These figures are a snapshot that intentionally perverts the truth,” said John Manly, a Costa Mesa attorney who represents 14 people allegedly molested by Orange County priests. He said he believes the number of abusive priests in Orange County will be close to 30.

Shirl Giacomi, a top administrator of the diocese, acknowledged that some allegations were not considered, but only because researchers conducting the national study want data only through 2002. Credible allegations of sexual abuse that only surfaced last year weren’t included.

“The rest of the country hasn’t had to deal with this,” said Giacomi, referring to the rush of as many as 800 lawsuits against California’s 12 dioceses that resulted last year from the suspension of the statute of limitations. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, however, plans to include 2003 figures along with its report for the national survey, a church spokesman said. The archdiocese will wait until February to release its figures so it can include data gleaned from the estimated 500 suits filed against it last year.

“We want to release the survey results together with the 2003 information to make the data as complete as possible,” spokesman Tod Tamberg said. “As everyone is aware, many suits alleging past abuse have been filed in the last few days.”

Even without the 2003 data, victims advocates said they know of more than 16 credibly accused priests in Orange County.

“It seems that the church gets to decide what’s credible or not, which has always been the pattern,” said Mary Grant, Southern California director of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests. “The numbers aren’t very trustworthy.”