Mahony: Protecting Minors ‘Job 1’

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony said Tuesday that he was surprised at the number of victims of alleged sexual abuse by priests in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles over the past 73 years -- 656 according to a new report -- and renewed his pledge that the protection of minors from molesting priests remained “job 1.”

Mahony, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Los Angeles, said recent actions by the archdiocese to remove a once high-ranking priest from a San Marino parish as well as the decision to reveal the names of 211 priests accused of wrongdoing had provided evidence that the archdiocese was keeping its word.

The report released Tuesday by the archdiocese, which tracked sexual abuse claims from 1931 through last year, is proof of his determination to be “open and transparent,” Mahony said. He added that he hoped sexual abuse victims who had not spoken out would scan the names and be encouraged to step forward.

“There are probably other victims out there,” Mahony said. “I am hopeful that if they look at this list ... that they will say, ‘Oh, I recognize that name. I had a problem but I was afraid to come forward or say anything.’ They might have courage now to say, ‘I need help, too,’ ” Mahony said.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley renewed demands that the church produce personnel records of suspected priests. The church has argued that the records are protected by the state’s constitutional right to privacy and the 1st Amendment’s freedom of religion clause.

“The assertion by the Archdiocese of the pastoral privilege must give way to a more compelling state interest,” Cooley said Tuesday.

“That interest is the prosecution of those who would molest children, regardless of their status,” he said.

There is currently one criminal case pending against a former priest in Los Angeles County. The names of the accused clergy in the archdiocesan report were drawn from civil lawsuits, criminal filings and direct complaints to the church.

Outside the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles, a dozen or so abuse victims called the report only a “baby step,” in the right direction. They said the cardinal was trying to take credit for the work of victims who had come forward.

“In truth, Mahony didn’t make most of those abusers’ names public. Brave survivors and persistent prosecutors did,” said Mary Grant, southwest regional director for Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests. “The vast majority of them have already been in the public eye thanks to the courage of victims, not Mahony.”

The archdiocese’s report is part of a nationwide study ordered by the National Review Board of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to determine the extent of sexual abuse in the U.S. Roman Catholic church. The full nationwide study is expected to be released later this month.

It will give the total number of priests accused of abuse, but not a diocese by diocese breakdown. Unlike the report by the Los Angeles Archdiocese, the national report is not expected to list the names of priests accused of abuse.

In an interview at the Cathedral Conference Center downtown, Mahony took personal responsibility for the archdiocese’s past failures and for his transfer of several abusive priests to new parishes after they had been treated and counseled.

“We gave many examples of where I failed, where we made mistakes, and we highlighted them,” Mahony said of the report. “We said ‘Look, in those years this is what we thought. This is what we did. And now we obviously do things differently.’ We acknowledge those mistakes,” he said.

The California Legislature’s decision in 2002 to allow victims of old abuse cases to sue the church during 2003 -- a one-year exemption from the statute of limitations -- helped to prompt many victims to come forward with their accounts, Mahony said. Of the 656 victims of abuse listed in the archdiocesan report, 522 have come forward since 2002.

“I think the fact that the statute of limitations had been lifted led to that,” Mahony said.

The church took no position when the Legislature approved the one-year waiver in 2002, but Mahony said he would oppose changing the deadline once again. Further extensions of the deadline for filing suits over old cases would delay settlement of the existing cases, Mahony said.

“I don’t think it should have been extended in the first place,” Mahony said. “I think it would be very harmful to the victims, primarily, because if it were extended another year, say, we could never reach settlement in the cases we’ve got until we know what additional cases there are.”

“So that means that everyone who’s waiting now would have to wait until 2005 if that were the case, and I don’t think anyone wants to do that,” Mahony said.

Sexual abuse is on the wane, both in the Los Angeles Archdiocese, the nation’s largest, and across the country, Mahony said, citing the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ decision to implement a “zero tolerance” church policy against the sexual abuse of minors.

Mahony said the archdiocese’s recent treatment of Msgr. Richard Loomis, the once high-ranking church official, is proof that the new system is working. Several years earlier, Loomis had served as Mahony’s vicar of clergy, whose responsibilities included overseeing sexual abuse cases against fellow priests.

On Feb. 1, church officials told parishioners at Sts. Felicitas and Perpetua Parish in San Marino that Loomis, their pastor, had been accused in a lawsuit of having sexually abused a teenage boy.

The alleged abuse took place between 1969 and 1971 before Loomis became a priest and while he was teaching at a Catholic high school.

The parish was told that there “was no credible evidence of misconduct” and that Loomis had Mahony’s “complete confidence” and would remain their pastor.

Last Thursday, however, the parish was told that another person claiming to be a victim had been identified and that the archdiocese was placing Loomis on administrative leave. The second victim had been contacted by archdiocesan investigators.

“I think that illustrates it, that very case,” Mahony said. “In the first instance there was some allegation made. The victim refused to be interviewed.” Because of that, the archdiocesan Clergy Misconduct Review Board “felt that we don’t have enough evidence to put [Loomis] on administrative leave.”

“But they continue to monitor these cases. That’s just not the end of it,” Mahony said. “But then other evidence came forward which they then were able to investigate and interview the party. And based on their investigation they determined that there was sufficient credible evidence to move forward and put [Loomis] on administrative leave.”

Mahony said he knew Loomis was well respected by his parish and many others in the archdiocese for his work over the years. “I mean, they all know him and love him as well. That’s not the point. The point is we have policies. We have procedures and are following them regardless where that leads,” Mahony said.

The decision to list the names of 211 priests, deacons, brothers and seminarians who had been accused of sexual abuse came after he had asked the archdiocese’s priest council for advice, Mahony said.

He said he told the priests he wanted to be as open and transparent as possible. In the end, he said, the priests had agreed that the names should be publicized for “the greater good of the church.” He said some priests were surprised when they saw the names of some of their colleagues on the list.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The accused

The following is a list of 201 priests, deacons, brothers and seminarians identified by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles as having been accused of sexually abusing minors and the years the abuse allegedly occurred. Some of the allegations have been discredited.

Accused of molesting 12 youths:

Cimmarrusti, Mario, 1962-69

Garcia, Peter, 1961-83

Harris, Michael A., 1972-90

Accused of molesting 11 youths:

Kearney, Christopher, 1971-84

Lovell, Larry, 1974-85

Accused of molesting 10 youths:

Dawson, John H., 1972-82

Falvey,* Mark, 1959-75

Accused of molesting nine youths:

Ramos, Eleuterio, 1972-89

Accused of molesting eight youths:

Barmasse, Kevin P., 1982--88

Buckley, Michael D., 1965-75

Fessard, Gerald B., 1965-79

Accused of molesting seven youths:

Martinez, Ruben, 1970-81

Vetter,* Henry Xavier, 1953-73

Accused of molesting six youths:

Coughlin, Richard T., 1965-81

Daley,* Wallace J., 1957-63

Dominguez, Jesus Jesse, 1973-88

Miller, George M., 1974-88

Rodriguez, Carlos Rene, 1984-94

Salazar, John Anthony, 1980-86

Van Handel, Robert, 1970-82

Accused of molesting five youths:

Atherton, Gregory, 1967-86

Sandstrom, Lawrence, 1955-69

Warren,* A. Thomas, 1991

Accused of molesting four youths:

Castro, Willebaldo, 1973-78

Ginty,* Denis, 1932-80

Kelly, Patrick, 1991

Kohlbeck, Frank, 1981-83

Miani, Titian Jim, 1957-67

Pecharich, Michael, 1974-84

Quinlan,* Celestine, 1957-63

Savino, Dominic, 1977-80

Sheahan, John, 1961-65

Accused of molesting three youths:

Buckman, Franklin, 1962-81

Caffoe, Lynn, 1973-94

Casey, Edward, 1974-79

Duggan,* Albert J., 1963-71

Grimes,* James, 1958-59

Lyons, Denis, 1968-82

Marshall, Thomas, 1960-63

Nocita, Mike, 1975-84

O’Connor, Donal, 1959-61

Reilly, Terrence, 1959-76

Ruhl, John, 1970-82

Sullivan,* Thomas, 1952-58

Wolfe,* Phillip, 1975-89

Ziemann, G. Patrick, 1967-86

Accused of molesting two youths:

Abercrombie,* Leonard, 1970s

Ahumada, Arturo, 1999-2000

Anderson,* Roger, 1981-83

Boyer,* Leland, 1973--82

Cabot, Samuel, 1980-85

Carey,* Cleve W., 1963-66

Carriere,* David, 1978-79

Cotter, Patrick J., 1963-64

Cronin, Sean, 1972-80

DeLisle,* Harold F., 1967-77

Gallagher,* George Michael, 1953-62

Garcia, Cristobal, 1980-84

Hanley, Bernard Brian, 1965

Hawkes,* Benjamin, 1973-85

Hernandez, Stephen, 1984-85

Jaramillo, Luis, 1986-88

Johnson, Dave, 1977-79

Lindner, Jerold, 1973-85

Loomis, Richard A., 1969-74

Mahony, Roger, 1970-93

McKeon,* Martin, 1962-65

Moody, Michael Andre, 1980

Pina, Joseph D., 1979-90

Plesetz, Gerald, 1973-77

Rowe,* Dorian, 1967-79

Santillan, John, 1977-85

Scott,* George, 1947-58

Sharpe,* Joseph, 1958-64

Stadtfeld,* Joseph, 1958-66

Stallkamp,* Louis G., 1974-79

Tepe,* Raymond (Jose), 1958-68

Van Liefde, Christopher, 1971-75

Wadeson, John, 1973-77

Weber,* Francis J., 1959

Accused of molesting one youth:

Alzugaray, Joseph, 1967-70

Arzube, Juan, 1975--76

Balbin, Victor, 1978-84

Berbena, Christopher, 1980

Berumen, Matthias A., 1990

Brennan,* John Lawrence, 1954--56

Cabaong, Honorato, 1978-84

Cairns, James, 1971-73

Carroll, Michael J., 1968-71

Casey,* John Joseph, 1944-45

Cavalli, Vincent V., 1966-68

Coffield, John V., 1959-60

Corral, Andres S., 1981

Cosgrove,* John V., 1979-80

Cousineau, David, 1970-73

Cremins,* Daniel J., 1965-71

Cruces, Angel, 1978-84

Deady,* John P., 1956-57

DeFore, Donald, 1977-78

DeJonghe,* Harold, 1980-82

Diesta, Arwyn N., 1982

DiPeri, Joseph B., 1977

Doan, Michael Son Trong, 1999

Dober, Edward, 1989

Doherty,* John B., 1967-69

Dolan,* James, 1962

Dowd,* Francis, 1963

Dunne, Joseph, 1993

English,* Thomas Patrick, 1969-70

Farabaugh,* Clint, 1973-75

Farmer, Donald G., 1967-69

Farris,* John V., 1951-54

Faue,* Mathias, 1965-67

Fernando, Arthur, 1973-75

Fernando, Walter, 1980-81

Fitzpatrick,* James J., 1962-63

Fitzpatrick, Thomas Q., 1987

Foley, George, 1971-74

Ford, James M., 1968-71

Gaioni, Dominic, 1977

Granadino, David F., 1985-88

Grill, Philip, 1965-66

Guerrini, Roderic M., 1976-78

Gunst,* George, 1955

Guzman,* Vincente, 1931-41

Haran,* Michael Joseph, 1948

Havel, Thomas E., 1968-72

Hill, Patrick, 1979-81

Horvath,* Bertrand, 1971-74

Hunt,* Michael A., 1957-58

Hurley,* John J., 1949

James, Joseph, 1958

Jayawardene, Tilak A., 1990

Jimenez-Pelayo, Emmanuel, 1975

Juarez, Anthony, 1957-58

Kareta, Greg, 1980

Kavanaugh, Philip, 1973-74

Keeney, John, 1974-76

Kelly,* Matthew H., 1969-71

Kenny, John, 1976-77

Klikunes, Bruce, 1976-77

Kohnke,* John, 1973-74

Lacar, Sylvio, 1978-84

Lapierre, David, 1983-84

Leon, Modesto, 1995-96

Loofborough, Charles, 1978-81

Lopez, Joseph, 1963-66

Lorenzoni, Larry, 1957-58

MacSweeney,* Eugene, 1959

Maio, Eugene A., 1963

Manning, Robert, 1970-71

Martin,* James Aloysius, 1934-38

Martinez, Ernest, 1965-66

Martini, Richard M., 1990-91

Mateo, Leonardo, 1959

Mateos, Francisco, 1976-79

McElhatton,* Thomas, 1943-45

McGloin, James, 1963

McHugh, Patrick, 1972-74

McNamara, Patrick, 1960s

Mendez, Jose J., 1985-87

Meyer, Louis L., 1968-69

Molthen,* Vincent, 1961-62

Monte,* Alfred, 1947

Nwankwo, Cyril, 1997

O’Carroll,* Charles, 1956-58

O’Dwyer,* Patrick F., 1959

O’Loghlen, Martin, 1965-68

Orellana, Samuel, 1987

Pacheco, Gary, 1975

Peck, Daniel P., 1996

Pena, Amado, 1981-83

Pick,* Louis V., 1947

Ploughman, Bernard, 1963

Porter, Thomas A., 1965-70

Reilly, Patrick, 1980-84

Roebert, Michael, 1969-70

Roper, William, 1970-73

Rozo Rincon, Efrain, 1969

Ryan,* Joseph Francis, 1945

Salinas,* Gabriel, 1958-60

Sanchez, Juan, 1992

Sanchez, Manuel, 1978-81

Schaller, Emmett Gilroy, 1979-80

Scheier,* Maurice, 1948

Sharkey, Joe, 1968

Specialle, Stephen Emmet, 1985-86

Sprouffske, Michael M., 1963-69

Tacderas, Joseph, 1983

Tamayo,* Santiago L., 1978-84

Teluma, Lukas Bao, 1995

Terra, Michael, 1979-80

Thorne, Vance, early 1970s

Tresler, Carl D., 1998

Tugade, Valentine, 1978-84

Van ter Toolen,* Vincent, 1961

Verhart, John, 1957-58

Villa Gomez, Gillmero Nemoria, 1964-65

Villaroya, Ernesto Corral, 1983

Weitz,* Wilfred, 1959-61

Wishard, John W., 1980

Source: Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Los Angeles Times

*Deceased