Priest Abuse Cases Falter

A Ventura County judge dismissed molestation charges Monday against a retired Catholic priest, four days after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a California law that allowed decades-old sex abuse cases to be prosecuted.

As a result of the ruling, prosecutors asked the judge to drop 14 counts of child molestation against Father Carl Sutphin, 71, who was accused of molesting six boys, ages 7 to 12, between 1968 and 1978 while serving as an associate pastor at a Camarillo church and a chaplain at an Oxnard hospital.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Douglas Ridley said he requested that the charges be dismissed Monday morning after informing Sutphin’s accusers over the weekend.

“To say that [the alleged victims] are extremely disappointed doesn’t even come close to describing the emotions they are feeling right now,” Ridley said outside the courtroom. “It’s a sad day for victims of child molestation in this state and in this country.”

Sutphin, who had pleaded not guilty and was free in lieu of $200,000 bail, shed tears after Judge James Cloninger granted Ridley’s request, according to Sutphin’s attorney, James Farley.

“When other defendants who were in custody started to get released, there was a pretty good indication this might happen,” Farley said. “They did the right thing.”

Ventura County prosecutors said they also intend this week to ask that charges be dismissed against Father Fidencio Silva, who was charged in March with 25 counts of child molestation.

Silva, 53, who ran the altar boy program at Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Oxnard from 1978 to 1986, is believed to be in Mexico. Officials with the district attorney’s office are contacting alleged victims in that case and are scheduled to go to court Thursday to ask that the charges be dropped.

The charges followed a lawsuit filed by eight men who served as altar boys and helped Silva at services when they were between the ages of 11 and 15. Those men include Oxnard Police Det. Manuel Vega, who accused Silva of sexual abuse and urged prosecutors to take up the case.

Vega tracked down other altar boys who also said they were molested by Silva. The group last year sued the priest, his order and the archdiocese.

Vega said he was disappointed by the Supreme Court ruling, but believes civil litigation will bring the changes that victims of sex abuse by the clergy are seeking.

“To me, what occurred in the last two years has been a tremendous victory for victims of the clergy, because we have put this ugliness before people,” Vega said. “We made it very visible. The only thing this ruling has done is put it on the front page again. It’s definitely not over.”

In Los Angeles, the only priest still jailed while awaiting trial for child molestation also was released Monday as the region’s top prosecutor vowed to press forward with his investigation of alleged wrongdoing in the Roman Catholic Church.

“This is not over by any means,” Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said Monday. “The fat lady hasn’t sung yet.

“There is no doubt there was a huge moral institutional failing and personal moral failing,” Cooley said of the Catholic Church. “Whether that amounts to criminal culpability remains to be seen. We don’t have the facts yet.”

Across California, prosecutors struggled Monday with the legal ramifications of the Supreme Court’s controversial ruling. The decision affects an estimated 800 cases statewide -- involving convicted molesters, those whose charges were pending and some who had confessed -- and at least 20 in Ventura County.

In Los Angeles County, Superior Court Judge David Horwitz ordered former priest Carlos Rene Rodriguez released from jail, pending a court appearance July 9.

And Superior Court Commissioner Jeffrey Harkavy said he probably will dismiss child molestation charges against John Anthony Salazar, another former priest, on Wednesday.

In each case, judges cited the Supreme Court decision.

Last week’s ruling overturned a portion of a California law that allowed prosecution of certain sex offense cases even if the statute of limitations had expired, as long as district attorneys filed charges within a year after the offense was reported.

Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defender Arthur C. Braudrick said he expects the Rodriguez case to be dismissed, probably on a motion by the prosecution.

Rodriguez, 46, of Commerce, was charged with molesting an altar boy from 1985 to 1987 when he served at St. Vincent de Paul Church. Rodriguez has been in jail since September awaiting trial. His bail was set at $400,000.

Salazar’s case is expected to be dismissed Wednesday without the defendant being required to return to court, unless the district attorney’s office decides in the interim to try to continue prosecuting him, the court commissioner said.

Salazar was charged in November with molesting a youth at the rectory at St. Bernard High School in Playa del Rey.

“It’s a kick in the head,” said Carlos Perez-Carillo, now 37, the alleged victim in the Salazar case. “I’ve been in therapy for a year, and I feel like I’m back to square one,” he said. “The criminal case would have been priceless for me, because I would have received justice and there would have been a message sent out to people who molest children that they were not going to get away with that.”

In San Diego, authorities have said they will seek dismissal against a retired San Diego priest accused of molesting a 15-year-old church worker in the late 1970s. The priest, Franklyn Becker, was arrested in May 2002 in Mayville, Wis. and was to be extradited to California next week. The California attorney general’s office has decided not to pursue extradition, said Peter Quon, deputy attorney general in San Diego.

As prosecutors, defense attorneys and state corrections officials struggled with the aftermath of the decision, the civil claims against priests continued to advance in court.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Marvin Lager, who is overseeing hundreds of claims against the Catholic church, Monday agreed to let lawyers for alleged victims issue subpoenas to priests accused of molesting children. Lager also granted a request by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to halt all other proceedings at least until the next court hearing on July 17.

Attorneys are concerned that accused priests might leave the country as their criminal cases are dismissed to try to avoid being deposed, said Venus Soltan, a Costa Mesa attorney. Soltan has filed 30 suits against the dioceses in Southern California and is expected to file at least 20 more.

Once subpoenaed, if the defendants flee, “we can have an order of attachment issued to bring them back to the state of California,” said Beverly Hills attorney Raymond P. Boucher, who represents more than 200 alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests. “It significantly limits their ability to hide.”

Cooley is scheduled to meet today with his top managers and prosecutors to decide how to proceed on the 200 child molestation cases affected by the Supreme Court ruling.

“These cases involve not only priests, but doctors, fathers, boyfriends and Scout leaders,” Cooley said.

A pending ruling by a retired judge on whether prosecutors are entitled to more than 2,000 pages of church communications may be key totheir decision.

Cooley’s office is seeking the information through a grand jury subpoena.

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Times staff writers Tracy Wilson, Steve Berry, Jean Guccione and Li Fellers contributed to this report.