Cooley Urges Reports of Abuse

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley urged the Roman Catholic archdiocese to comply with state law and give any suspicions of child abuse by its priests to police or child welfare officials, according to a letter released Tuesday.

In response to the March 13 letter he received from Cooley, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony maintained that church officials in the Los Angeles region are abiding by the 1997 state law that requires such reporting.

“To the best of my knowledge, allegations of known or reasonably suspected instances of child abuse or neglect were reported to the appropriate agency at the time of the allegation in accord with the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act,” the cardinal wrote.

The two letters were released by Cooley’s office Tuesday. The archdiocese could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Cooley’s letter came after church sources revealed that six to 12 priests were removed recently from the Los Angeles archdiocese because of allegations of sexual abuse against minors. Cooley said he has not been able to confirm whether those cases were reported to legal authorities. Cooley’s letter explains that the law requires clergy to report by phone immediately and by writing within 36 hours any reasonable suspicions of child abuse, including sexual abuse.

The district attorney offered the help of his office in handling the sensitive matters, similar cases of which have caused painful reviews within the Catholic Church nationwide.

Mahony, in his letter of reply, thanked Cooley for the offer to help the archdiocese. The cardinal repeated a segment of his March 10 letter to parishioners across Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties that emphasized the obligation of clergy to report abuse.

The law allows, however, exceptions for reporting by clergy if the claim of sexual abuse is made during a confession or if an adult who was victimized as a child is capable of making the report.

“We urge everyone with knowledge of child abuse to go to police. We need to take the predators off the street,” said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for Cooley.

Mahony told 300 Catholic priests Monday that he would support victims of long-ago sexual abuse who want to break confidentiality agreements and talk, but he said the archdiocese would not release the names of their abusers.

The release of abusers’ names from many years ago would further harm victims, he said. When new cases of abuse arise, he said, the names of priests removed for sexual misconduct will be announced to parishioners, Mahony said.

He said the few recent dismissals stem from incidents many years ago and said some of those involved went to jail but he did not offer any details.

The cardinal apologized during the mass for “the sinful and deplorable actions of a small percentage of priests” and said he has adopted a zero-tolerance policy.

In a news conference afterward, Mahony said church officials are cooperating with police and cited a tip to an archdiocese hotline that led to the dismissal last week of a priest as head of a Catholic high school in Encino.

Victims’ advocates took issue Tuesday with Mahony’s position on not releasing names in old cases.

“My experience with victims is once a molester is named, more victims come out of the woodwork,” said Kathy Freberg, an attorney for clergy abuse victims. “It is far easier to come forward when you are not alone. Cardinal Mahony fears more victims.”