From KMBZ:
He’s been sentenced to probation and is required to attend mandatory training in detection of child pornography.
Ratigan’s victims? They get a life sentence.
Author: Joelle Casteix
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Public scrutiny is for the little people …
so says Bishop Finn of Kansas City in his decision to have a bench trial instead of a jury verdict on his criminal charges of failure to report child sexual abuse.
Hopefully, the judge will give victims the justice and accountability they deserve. Let’s just hope that NY’s Cardinal Dolan doesn’t blame Fr. Shawn Ratigan’s six-year-old victims for causing such “shame” to the church.
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First Sex Abuse and Coverup Lawsuit Filed Under CA Appeal Ruling
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 for him long before she was even abused.
Esther Miller, who is one of the first victims to expose Nocita, is a brave and strong woman. I admire her greatly and am really proud to stand with her today in support of the new victim.
NEWS EVENT: Lawsuit says Catholic officials misled victims
Santa Fe Springs school is 1st target of new ruling
Woman says church paid for counseling but deceived her
Court decision will expose more predators, SNAP believes
What: Holding signs and photos of themselves when they were abused, child sex abuse victims will announce the first lawsuit filed under a recent, landmark ruling by the California Court of Appeals. The suit charges that:
- A priest sexually abused a girl at a Santa Fe Springs High School
- Church officials knew, years earlier, the cleric was an abuser
- When she reported to church officials, they didn’t tell her she had legal rights, and
- Instead, they gave her counseling to keep her quiet about abuse
Victims will also:
- Demand that church officials reach out to every person who received church-paid counseling in 2003,
- Tell these victims that, under the new court decision, they have new legal options, and
- Urge anyone who saw, suspected or suffered abuse to call law enforcement, not church officials
Where: Outside of St. Paul High School
9635 Greenleaf Avenue (at Los Nietos) in Santa Fe Springs
VICTIMS WILL NOT MEET WITH, DISTURB, OR APPROACH STUDENTS AT THE SCHOOL
When: TODAY: Wednesday, September 5 at 11 am
Who: Three to four members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the nation’s largest support group for men and women sexually abused as children in religious and institutional organizations, including an Orange County woman who sued the church in 2003 for sexual abuse by the cleric, Fr. Michael Stephen Nocita.
Why: This week, a California woman filed the first lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court under a landmark Court of Appeal ruling that potentially gives hundreds of victims of child sex crimes and cover-up new rights in the courts.
The decision, handed down in August 2012, says that victims who received counseling from the Catholic church for sexual abuse in 2003 (or any time they had the ability to expose their abuser in the courts) but did not take legal action may now file lawsuits.
In many cases, today’s new suit charges, Catholic officials did not tell victims they had rights, and instead used offers of desperately-needed counseling to deceptively help ensure that victims would not report to law enforcement.
SNAP believes that the ruling and this new lawsuit will offer many victims hope and enable them to expose more child molesting clerics predators whose crimes remain hidden even now.
According to the suit, Fr. Nocita, a notorious predator, sexually violated a young student at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs in the 1980s. Fr. Nocita was a teacher at the school at the time and church officials known for years he had allegedly molested at least one other girl. When Doe went to church officials for report her abuse in 2003, the lawsuit charges, they did not inform her that she had civil rights under California’s landmark civil “window” law – passed in 2002 – which gave victims of child sexual abuse a one year to take action in the courts, no matter when they were abused.
Instead, church officials offered her counseling, the lawsuit says, in the hopes that she would not learn of or pursue action under the new law.
Fr. Nocita has been removed from the priesthood currently lives in southern California. SNAP hopes that this latest lawsuit will encourage victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to come forward to law enforcment.
This is not the first scandal to hit St. Paul High School. In June, a former principal of the school was sentenced to 180 days in jail for stealing $64,000 from the school.
The victim is represented by Pasadena attorney Anthony DeMarco.
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Hawaii bishop starts the finger pointing game
Here’s a sad, sad story from today’s Honolulu Star Advertiser. Honolulu’s Bishop Clarence Silva blames victims for not coming forward to him, his predecessors for covering things up, enemies of the church who “capitalize on this very real problem,” proponents of gay marriage, pro-life advocates, and just about everyone else.
Really? Since when do the gay marriage and pro-life movements have ANYTHING to do with child sex abuse and cover up?
My modest proposal? Name the perps, open the files, disclose allegations, turn ALL evidence over to the cops and quit blaming victims. That’s pretty easy, right?
Because the Hawaii civil window will force him to do it soon enough …
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New legal rights for some of California’s victims
In a ruling yesterday, the California Court of Appeal ruled that if a victim of child sexual abuse received counseling from the Catholic Church during the time that victim had an active statute (2003, or earlier, depending on the case), that victim may have new civil rights to seek justice, expose their perpetrator, and get accountability in the courts.
It’s complicated to explain, but this ruling opens the doors for victims who received counseling in 2003 (when California had a civil window for older cases of abuse), but didn’t file a case, because they didn’t know about the law, were confused, or thought that church officials had their best interests at heart. In some cases, the church cut off victims’ counseling completely as soon as the window closed.
Many victims thought that the church was really trying to help them, when instead, officials were just trying to keep them placated until their civil rights ran out. Because of that, predators were able to escape justice, and valuable evidence about sex abuse and cover-up was hidden from public view.
You can read the ruling here.
Kudos to Anthony DeMarco for this tremendous win on behalf of victims.