Molestation Case Against Priest Ended

A Long Beach Municipal Court judge on Monday dismissed all charges against a priest accused of molesting five boys over two decades, ruling that the statute of limitations on each of the 38 counts had expired.

At issue was whether Father Ted Llanos, 49, could be prosecuted for events that allegedly occurred in 1990 or earlier.

Judge Bradford L. Andrew said that a 1994 law that extended the window for prosecuting past sex crimes against minors did not specifically state that it could be applied retroactively.

Llanos remained silent throughout the proceedings and showed no emotion as the ruling was handed down.

He had been accused of sexually molesting five youths--most of them altar boys at the time--while he was assigned to five Southern California churches, beginning in 1973.

Llanos’ lawyers argued in court Monday that prosecution of the charges would have been unconstitutional, based on the legal concept of ex post facto--that it would have been too difficult to defend him against accusations of events that allegedly occurred 20 years ago.

“There’s a reason for a statute of limitations,” attorney Donald Steier said.

Relatives of Llanos’ alleged victims reflected quietly on the decision as they gathered outside the courthouse late Monday afternoon.

“I kind of expected it,” said Sue Griffith, mother of an alleged victim who came forward with the first accusation against Llanos in September 1994.

Joined by representatives of a Chicago-based support group for victims of sexual abuse by clergy, Griffith and others said they would lobby to make the law retroactive in such cases.

“I don’t see this as a defeat,” Griffith said. “We have to come to this to go to the next place.”

That place may be the office of Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland (R-Granada Hills), who sponsored the 1994 law.

Her legislative assistant said Boland was already working on a bill that would make the law applicable in such cases.

“It defeats the purpose of the bill to not have it applied retroactively,” Janene Balancac said Monday.

Prosecutor Ron Geltz said that the ruling could have gone either way, adding that he plans to appeal the case within two weeks.

Both teams of attorneys noted that three cases pending in the state Supreme Court dealing with similar arguments could later determine whether the charges against Llanos could be renewed.

The Los Angeles Archdiocese placed Llanos on leave when the charges first came to light.

Church spokesmen could not reached to say whether Llanos would be reinstated.