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.
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:
Victims will also:
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.
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 …
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.
‘Ohana can come from the most unlikely of places.
I went to Hilo, Hawaii last week for a single reason: Expose priest George DeCosta, who has been accused of abuse by two youth and former students at Honolulu’s Damien Memorial School. De Costa is now living in Volcano, a town about 20 miles outside of Hilo, where he went after Honolulu Bishop Francis DiLorenzo forced him to retire in 2002.
Malia Puka’O Kalani
DeCosta spent 30 years as pastor at St. Mary Gate of Heaven – now Malia Puka’O Kalani – parish. When he was forced out – in the midst of a massive priest shortage – the parish was left without a permanent priest. He was also forced to retire the same year, 2002, that Catholic clergy sex abuse “reforms” forced bishops across the country to remove child-molesting clerics.
Now, DeCosta is the pastor of a religious “community” in Volcano and travels the country with a national group called Music Ministry Alive. Within the past week, DeCosta’s photo and bio have been taken off of the website.
George De Costa from The Music Ministry Alive Website
I went to the small Malia Puka’O Kalani Parish not quite knowing what to expect.
I stood outside for less than 5 minutes before a man came up to me and said, “Are you the whole rally?”
“Yeah,” I told him. “It’s just me. Hope it’s not disappointing”
“We’ve been waiting to talk to you. Please, come back and sit.”
He led me to the back open area patio where five people sat, waiting for me. He pulled a chair up for me, gave me a water, and we started to talk. And talk. And talk. They were all alarmed about the allegations and had known Fr. George for a long time. But they also knew the they had to listen to the victims. They knew about the shame and silence victims suffer and how difficult it can be to come forward in such a small, tight-knit community, where culture and religion are often at odds.
One of them, a community leader as well as a member of the parish, said something I will never forget. We were discussing the clash between much of Hawaiian culture and Catholicism, and he said, “I did not choose to be born who I am. But I choose to be proud of who I am. That’s why I am here, talking to you.”
When I left, I received hugs and thank yous and a hand-knitted lei. And I am fairly confident that the Malia Puka’O Kalani community will begin to talk openly about child sexual abuse.
John Burnett of the Hawaii Tribune Herald wrote a great piece about the allegations.
Asked if there had ever been similar allegations against him before, DeCosta said: “I believe there was one other one about five years ago, maybe, but nothing ever came about it.” He didn’t say what the allegation entailed, but said that it “wasn’t at Malia.”
So I guess we have three allegations. And far too many unanswered questions.
Fortunately, the strength and love of the parishioners will keep them vigilant, until we can all get to the truth.