Today, LA judge Emilie Elias gave the Archdiocese of Los Angeles a concrete schedule for the public release of thousands of pages of sex abuse and cover-up documents. If all goes according to plan, the redacted files on perpetrator priests will be made public by the end of the year. The documents were a part of…Continue reading LA clergy sex abuse files to be made public by end of year, judge says
The Archdiocese of LA paid for a victim’s counseling in 2003—but neglected (or refused) to inform her that she had civil rights— even though they had known for years that Fr. Michael Steven Nocita was a predator. Now, he can use the court system to expose former priest and the church officials who covered up…Continue reading First Sex Abuse and Coverup Lawsuit Filed Under CA Appeal Ruling
This week, three prominent priests have been arrested and/or investigated for sexual abuse: In the Archdiocese of Los Angeles: Father Luis Jose Cuevas, 67, a pastor of St. Athanasius Church on Linden Avenue, faces eight misdemeanor charges of sexual assault and one felony count involving lewd acts with a child, according to a complaint filed…Continue reading A Week of Arrests, Investigations and Shameful Responses
This weekend marks the five-year anniversary of the 2007 Los Angeles Archdiocese’s $660 million settlement with more than 500 victims of child sexual abuse by priests, religious, employees and volunteers. While the financial settlement has allowed many Los Angeles victims to get therapy, healing and a sense of justice, the real reason many of these victims…Continue reading A Bittersweet Anniversary
The Michael Harris trial is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 18 at 9am. Barring any last-minute settlements, you’ll see me at Dept. CX103, Orange County Supreme Court. It should be a barn burner. Get ready to see some diocese dirty laundry. Even Bishop Tod Brown concedes Harris is a monster. The victim is an active…Continue reading Michael Harris trial is a go …
If you are in the Sacramento area, I hope you can join us. I think that Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto has said, “Report abuse to the Diocese,” so many times, that he thinks it’s the right thing to do. (P.S. Even the Pope says to call the cops first) For immediate release: June 6,…Continue reading Bishop Jaime Soto has some explaining to do about Uriel Ojeda
**Updated with correction and Diocese Reponse** File this under: “What the hell are they thinking?” Diocese of San Diego priest Fr. Jose Alexis Davila, who in April pled guilty to to battery and “engaging in an unlawful touching of an intimate part of the victim’s body,” is back at work at his old parish. You know, the one…Continue reading Plead guilty to sexual assault? No worries! Brom has got your back!
A sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit against former priest Msgr. Michael Harris, Mater Dei High School and the Diocese of Orange is slated to go to trial in Orange County Superior Court on June 18. Harris, the former principal of Mater Dei and Santa Margarita High Schools, has been smack in the center of the clergy sex…Continue reading Notorious former OC priest Michael Harris headed to court on more abuse charges
Interested in figuring out the Vatican Bank Scandal? Jason Berry’s Render Unto Rome is available for the Kindle. If you prefer, here is the Old School hardback. Don’t forget: the Pope’s butler has been criminally charged in the Vatican court for leaking documents. Who knows what he knows?
“A bishop. A priest. A woman. A boy.” My friend Steve Julian‘s play Altarcations will debut in June at the 2012 Hollywood Fringe Festival. I met Steve (whom some of you may recognize as the morning host of KPCC‘s Morning Edition) after I “outed” one of his former high school teachers as an admitted perpetrator…Continue reading Altarcations debuts at the Hollywood Fringe Festival
The first lawsuit under Hawaii’s landmark civil window was filed yesterday in Hawaii Circuit Court. The lawsuit (posted here) charges that Fr. Gerald Funcheon sexually abused a 13-year-old boy at Damien Memorial School in 1983/1984 during an overnight retreat on the eastern shore of Oahu. Considering Funcheon’s history (you can read some of the documents here), we…Continue reading **UPDATED**FIRST HAWAII LAWSUIT FILED** Gerald Funcheon: A missing priest appears ….
Earlier this year in Kansas City, SNAP’s David Clohessy was ordered to give a six-hour deposition in a child sex abuse lawsuit. Neither SNAP nor David himself were a party or even knew the victim. Critics piled on Clohessy, calling him evasive and a con-artist. In the end, the deposition has nothing to do with…Continue reading Disconnect, Pt 2: Subpoenas are for the little people
…that he skipped the country, just to make sure that the cops never find him. I hope his supporters (like the ones who tried to tamper with the jury) finally realized that he just flipped them the bird.
I am a huge fan of the US justice system. After more than 200 years, our impartial courts have “gotten it right” a vast majority of the time. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best in the world. Here’s a great example: Last week, a jury unanimously found that Fr. Michael Kelly was liable for abusing…Continue reading Most of the time – but not every time – our courts get it right …
Serve on a Diocese lay review board, and you can go to jail. Or at least that’s what Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Robert Finn says. Bishop Finn and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph are each being charged with one misdemeanor of failure to report suspected child abuse. The charges stem from the case of…Continue reading Another Lay Review Board Thrown Under The Bus …
Sometimes, the most profound statements at a press conference come from the reporters, not us. Today, my friend and colleague Ken Smolka and I were in front of Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary High School in Montebello, California. We were there because the Irish Chrisitian Brothers, the religious order that ran Cantwell High School,…Continue reading Clarity at Cantwell High School