Those Who Came Forward Feel Betrayed

The childhood victims of abusive priests claimed another betrayal Thursday: the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling striking down an extension of the statute of limitations on sexual crimes against children.

After years of silence, men and women once terrified that no one would believe what had happened to them at the hands of ordained priests had come forward in droves to tell their stories.

They did so urged by prosecutors and police that justice was still within reach. Now they say they feel victimized by the court, with dozens of pending charges against their alleged abusers no longer viable, including cases that rank among the most notorious in Southern California..

“It’s very difficult when you’ve been suffering for over 20 years and you believe you finally have a chance to seek justice, and that is taken away from you,” said Carlos Perez-Carillo, one of two alleged victims of John Anthony Salazar, 47.

Salazar was charged in November with two counts of sexual assault on minors while he served as a priest in Los Angeles in the 1980s.

“It is a culmination of the agony, one of the saddest days of my life,” said Perez-Carillo, a spokesman for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “This ruling sends a message to people who want to perpetrate these crimes that, if they can keep their victims quiet long enough, they can get away with it.”

In April, Matt Severson, 35, became one of the few to testify in court in the string of abuse cases brought recently by local prosecutors.

Priest’s Admissions

He came forward more than a year ago to say he had been abused by parish priest Michael Stephen Baker between December 1976 and September 1985, abuse that allegedly began when Severson was 10.

Baker’s case has caused considerable embarrassment for the Los Angeles Archdiocese. Baker, 55, admitted in 1986 to Cardinal Roger M. Mahony that he had molested two boys and was sent for treatment before returning to restricted ministry.

In 2000, Mahony authorized a $1.3-million settlement with two boys who alleged they were abused by Baker after his 1986 admission to Mahony. Baker was charged last September in the Severson case and has pleaded not guilty.

Severson said Thursday that it was the chance to face his alleged abuser in criminal court and the belief he had a moral obligation to report the crime that led to his decision to go to the police.

“There was something very empowering about being able to stand up to a priest in a court of law and feel like justice could be done,” Severson said, adding that a civil lawsuit he filed against Baker does not offer the same satisfaction.

“The criminal case is by far the most important. It shows to the world that the state of California believes that a crime was committed,” he said.

Severson said that for him, it was not emotionally possible to come forward within the statute of limitations that existed at the time of the abuse.

He said he was “dumbstruck” Thursday when a friend e-mailed him news of the Supreme Court decision.

For some who had been working with law enforcement officials and prosecutors preparing their cases for court, Thursday was a day of whiplash.

Jackie Dennis, 42, was one of seven girls allegedly abused by the Rev. George Neville Rucker. Now retired, Rucker, 82, was charged last fall with 29 counts of child molestation. He has pleaded not guilty.

“I am so in shock. It makes me sick to think these guys victimized, raped and sodomized, and now the door is open today for them to walk away and live the lives they were living,” Dennis said.

“I was due to testify July 7. I waited over a year to have my day in court. It took a long time to muster up the courage to [get to] this point.”

Prosecutors allege that Dennis was one of three sisters abused by Rucker at St. Agatha Church in Los Angeles during the 1970s. Dennis got the news about the court’s decision in phone calls Thursday.

“When a prosecutor left a message, I could hear something was terribly wrong,” she said. Dennis said she called a detective who had worked on the case and “he took a big swallow before telling me. It feels like a funeral. Justice has failed us today.”

Rucker’s case is notable because he remained an active priest and was transferred to Dennis’ parish three years after two 9-year-old girls told El Segundo police that the cleric molested them while he was at St. Anthony Church.

Rucker was removed from the ministry last year, 35 years after Mahony’s predecessor persuaded the mother of one of the El Segundo girls not to pursue criminal charges, assuring her that the church would “take care of the matter,” according to a police report at the time.

Painful Secrets

Many victims revealed painful secrets in their past when they chose to go public with their allegations, a choice they believed worth making if criminal prosecution would result. For them, the Supreme Court decision seemed a personal blow.

“There’s nobody on my side. You can’t turn to the law. You can’t turn to the church,” said Lori Haigh. Haigh, 38, came forward to accuse former Orange County parish priest John Lenihan of getting her pregnant when she was 16. Lenihan was charged with child molestation in March and has pleaded not guilty.

“The evil and corruption in the world is everywhere, even in organizations that are supposed to have the highest sense of morality,” Haigh said. “It’s a real hopeless feeling, a sinking, hopeless feeling.”

Haigh underwent an abortion, paid for by Lenihan, and last year received a $1.2-million civil settlement from the dioceses of Orange and Los Angeles. She was sued for slander by another priest she accused of inappropriate sexual advances, but that suit was dismissed.

Since the criminal charges were filed, Haigh has traveled five or six times from her San Francisco home to Santa Ana for court appearances that were postponed.

“They had been delaying the case in hopes that the Supreme Court would rule their way,” Haigh said. “This was his last-ditch hope and I guess he’s a lucky guy. I don’t know what I’m going to do. Just realize that this is the way of the world and, I guess, hate everybody.”

Mary Grant, a spokeswoman for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, settled a civil lawsuit against Lenihan in 1991 for $25,000 after he admitted a sexual relationship with her that began when she was 13.

Saddened by Prospects

She said Thursday that she was saddened that the pending case against him would now likely be dismissed. Although Grant first told church officials of the abuse in 1979, when she went to police in 1989 and again in 1999, she was told the statute of limitations had expired.

Grant said Thursday she believed the Supreme Court decision made it crucial that she continue to raise awareness about the sexual abuse of children by priests. She emphasized that adult victims should continue coming forward to put their allegations on the record, and also to make sure their alleged abusers are not still active.

“I have met people who didn’t want to file civil suits, but I have not met one person who didn’t want to get their perpetrator behind bars,” Grant said. “There’s a sense of emergency, of saying, ‘What can I do to make sure this doesn’t happen to another child?’

“And when there’s nothing else that can be done, I’m going to be standing outside churches and [handing out leaflets at] parishes. Because awareness is still not what it should be. If it were, this ruling would never have happened.”

Times staff writers Scott Martelle and Allison T. Hoffman contributed to this report.