Letourneau, 51, was arrested on suspicion of driving with a suspended license and booked into King County Jail. A year ago, she’d been cited for driving with a suspended license after failing to pay her tickets. She didn’t show up at a “relicensing program” or a court hearing, so a warrant was issued for her arrest.
But this is far more than a story about a woman who “forgot” to pay her parking tickets.
LeTourneau, as I prefer to remember her
When it comes to men and women who sexually abuse children, the predators’ physical anatomies may be different, but their mindsets are very much the same. Child sex abusers are men and women who blur boundaries—sexual, physical, emotional and legal. As they hone their skills over years of grooming and abusing children, predators begin to think that they are above the law in all areas. This is why we see cases of abusive priests who steal from the collection basket, Protestant predators who work as police chaplains, or celebrity molesters who use their power and influence to thwart law enforcement.
LeTourneau is no different. Although she was arrested and went to jail, she essentially got away with child sex crimes. Fualaau, now married to his abuser, has never been interviewed without the woman who began preying on him when he was in the sixth grade. We may never learn the full extent of the damage LeTourneau did to the 12-year-old boy from a troubled home.
But we do know this: she, like many others who molest children, thinks that she is simply above the law. If the parking tickers were just a matter of money (she is an unemployable registered sex offender and Fualaau is a high school dropout who works part time as a DJ), she would have stopped parking in zones where she would be ticketed. If it were a matter of simple neglect, she would have gone to her court hearing and asked for help. But she didn’t.
She instead displayed typical child sex predator behavior: she simply believes that the laws do not apply to her.
If you read nothing else this week, check out OC Weekly‘s Father John Lenihan and Me, Gustavo Arellano’s introspective piece on the recent release of serial molester Fr. John Lenihan’s secret personnel file.
Gustavo Arellano, being cute
Gustavo, who is usually not the poster child for humility, sums up the past few years of the news coverage of the child sex abuse scandal in the Diocese of Orange perfectly:
Because, as I look back at our decade of coverage, I see it’s one giant failure. Although Orange County may have a new bishop in Vann, he has yet to exile any of the men who let Lenihan roam all those years. Lenihan, meanwhile, never served any prison time for his crimes and is now happily married, living in South County and still beloved by his former parishioners. The Diocese of Orange grows, more money rushes in—and sex-abuse survivors are told the past is the past and get out of the way of progress.
The reason that this passage affects me so deeply is that the failure is mine, too. After more than 10 years fighting in my own backyard, I, somehow, began to believe what they—church flaks, faithful Catholics and other apologists—were telling me:
“Bishop Vann is new,” they said. “He’s had no role in the scandal here in Orange. Do not judge him until you have reason.”
“You got your settlement. You got your documents. It’s time for you to move on and forgive.”
“Mater Dei is different, Joelle. I send my children there. Those are old battles that you (mostly) won.”
Then it happened: I got tired. The news got less and less attention … until it got no attention at all. Not even from me.
I let the malaise seep in … until I read Gustavo’s piece, and remembered why I started fighting in the first place.
Why? Because of men like Msgr. John Urell, who prances around south Orange County with the very poorly placed respect and admiration of local Catholics. We must never forget that he LIED to parents when their kids came forward to report abuse. We must never forget that he told rape victims (who were CHILDREN) that they were “besmirching” the “good names” of serial predators like Michael Harris and Al Ramos. We must never forget that he covered up for men he KNEW were sexually abusing kids.
And when called to account, Urell ran away. He’s a coward, he lied, and he covered up for criminals. Had he kicked a dog in public, everyone would have been outraged. But no one at St. Timothy’s seems to care about the kids he metaphorically kicked over and over again.
We must never forget the millions Vann pays to lawyer Pete Callahan, whose legal career has been devoted to grinding down those among us who are the most hurt, most vulnerable, and in most need of help.
Until Vann does something about these men, he is just as guilty as Roger Mahony or any of the other men who, when they could have saved a child’s life, instead chose to sit on a throne, protect criminals, and spend the faithful’s millions.
This is not a matter of forgiveness. It’s about accountability:
And I’m reminded anew why we cover the Orange diocese sex-abuse scandal: Whether the revelations happened last week or 30 years ago, whether those in charge are still around or dead, it’s Orange County’s worst-ever crime, one in which justice is nowhere near served. OC doesn’t care about Lenihan anymore—and that’s why we write and will continue to do so until God calls us to our reward, whatever it may be.
This week, The Gallup Independent published a scathing editorial about the bankruptcy proceedings in the Catholic Diocese of Gallup.
From the editorial:
[Bishop James] Wall and his bankruptcy attorneys — who are billing the diocese hundreds of dollars per hour — are already dragging the process out in an unjust, inequitable and unmerciful manner by trying to sell Judge David T. Thuma and the Department of Justice’s U.S. Trustee program a bogus bill of goods. They are trying to convince federal officials that its priests aren’t really its employees, that its parishes aren’t really part of the diocese, and that its three main nonprofit organizations, the Catholic Peoples Foundation, Southwest Indian Foundation, and Catholic Charities of Gallup, don’t really raise money to benefit programs in the diocese.
It’s not the first time we have seen editorials like this.
Seems to me that if I attended a church where the leaders—who claim to carry the cross and message of Jesus Christ—repeatedly attempt to lie, cheat and swindle the court system, I’d find a new church. You know, a moral one.
I have been brewing about the bankruptcy debacle in Gallup for the past few days. And I keep coming up with the same fable:
Mortimer Snerd gets a speeding ticket. Instead of paying the ticket or going to traffic school (that is, being accountable for what he has done), our pal Snerd goes to the judge and says, “I am so poor. Look at my unitemized list of belongings. I am one of the poorest people I know. I have less than a fraction of the wealth of the majority of people in Newport Beach. I live in a simple condo and a family to support. I just can’t pay what you ask.”
But the truth is this: Snerd CAN pay. He has a job, knew he was speeding, and is just trying to get out of being accountable. He can pay the fines for his transgressions. But now, he claims he’s a victim, because he is not a multi-millionaire.
Snerd wouldn’t have an argument if he lived in Boise, where the same salary puts him in the 1%. It’s all in how he chose to frame himself. He’s not poor. He’s just not mega-rich.
So, we move on to Gallup.
Gallup Bishop James Wall is saying that the diocese is poor. Well, compared to dioceses like Orange, CA, Gallup is poor. If you compare yourself to the richest man in the room, of course you are going to look like a pauper. But the recent actions of Wall and other Gallup diocese leaders lead me to believe that Wall sits on a pile of wealth bigger than he is willing to let on.
And then, there’s this:
This is the newly renovated chapel attached to Bishop Wall’s residence. Don’t bother trying to see it—it’s only for priests and seminarians. According to the Catholic News Agency:
The process has been years in the making, and is nearly completed. The chapel has received a new altar and retablo, a celebrant’s chair, sanctuary rail, stations of the cross, flooring, and an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. A lectern and pews are still in the process of being prepared.
One of the priorities in commissioning the chapel, Fr. Keller said, was “to use the art that’s unique and local,” working with “New Mexico artists who are unique, and worthy as well.”
The artists, the article said, were paid by donations from parishes and wealthy Catholics.
Scroll down to the italicized section (emphasis is mine). It seems that all of the “Unknown real estate values” that Bishop Wall wrung his hands over were actually known and itemized in a 2012 audit. Judges have a tendency to come down hard on that kind of stuff.
Another note: Bishop Wall said he “doesn’t believe” that parishes can fire their pastors. Hmmm … maybe the folks in Gallup should give it a try.
Final note: I almost went to this hearing. I’ll be kicking myself for the next six months for changing my mind.
Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, NM, Dec. 28, 2013
ALBUQUERQUE — Bishop James S. Wall’s recent testimony during the Diocese of Gallup’s Unsecured Creditors Committee meeting raised questions about just how well prepared diocesan officials were when they filed their Chapter 11 petition.
Susan Boswell, bankruptcy attorney for the Diocese of Gallup. Or, as she is now known in Gallup Federal Court: Grabby McGraw
Wall and Christopher G. Linscott, the diocese’s recently hired financial consultant from Tucson, Ariz., offered sworn testimony about the Gallup Diocese’s finances at the public meeting, which was held in Albuquerque’s U.S. Bankruptcy Court Dec. 19. They were accompanied by Susan G. Boswell, the diocese’s lead bankruptcy attorney from Tucson, and Thomas D. Walker, its Albuquerque bankruptcy attorney.
Assistant U.S. Trustee Ronald E. Andazola, the Department of Justice official who conducted the meeting, asked the bishop what goals he had for the submission of a Chapter 11 reorganization plan.
“In terms of dates, not any hard dates,” Wall said. “As soon as possible.”
Andazola also asked Wall if the diocese was considering the liquidation of property to raise settlement money for clergy sex abuse claimants.
“I think we’re looking at everything. … We want to come up with a good fund,” Wall said.
Timing questioned
But just how long will Wall have to submit a reorganization plan and raise settlement money? The timeline requirements of the federal bankruptcy court system and the vocal expectations of attorneys representing sex abuse claimants may force some “hard dates” on the Gallup bishop.
Two of those attorneys, John C. Manly of California and Robert E. Pastor of Arizona, co-counsels currently representing 14 sex abuse claimants, questioned why the Gallup Diocese filed its Chapter 11 petition without first taking the time to assemble complete and accurate financial data.
Manly, appearing to scoff when Linscott and Wall could not provide a figure for the diocese’s net worth, asked them if they didn’t think it would have been “a good first step” to determine the diocese’s net worth before filing for bankruptcy.
Under questioning by Pastor, Wall admitted he had been considering Chapter 11 reorganization for a long time and had begun talking with bankruptcy attorney Boswell about two years ago. Wall also agreed that Manly and Pastor had met with Boswell and Deacon James P. Hoy, the former diocesan chief financial officer, to discuss the diocese’s possible bankruptcy plans 18 months ago, in June 2012.
Confidential document
Pastor raised the ire of Boswell when he produced a 12-page confidential financial document that he said included a list of all real estate the Gallup Diocese owns in Arizona and New Mexico, along with financial values listed for each property.
Wall has submitted a Statement of Financial Affairs to the bankruptcy court, which includes a list of diocesan-owned property, but without any financial values included.
According to Pastor, attorneys for the diocese produced the confidential financial document during litigation negotiations involving the first clergy sex abuse lawsuit Pastor filed in Arizona’s Coconino County Superior Court.
Earlier in the meeting, Andazola had similarly questioned why the Gallup chancery property had been valued at more than $315,000 in a 2012 fiscal year audit report, but was listed as having an “unknown value” in the bankruptcy documents.
When Pastor attempted to give Wall a copy of the 12-page confidential document to review, Boswell jumped up from her seat, grabbed the document, and threw it back on Pastor’s table. After some bickering between the attorneys on different types of real estate valuations, Boswell agreed to accept the document for Wall and provide a copy to Andazola.
Legal argument
Much of the meeting’s testimony focused on the more than 160 pieces of “trust” and “real” property listed by Wall in his Statement of Financial Affairs and the differences between real estate replacement value and market value.
Because the diocese has not maintained a record of all its properties or copies of all its deeds, diocesan officials said they had to ask county officials in both states to search land records for diocesan property. According to Boswell, the diocese is now trying to retain brokers who can determine the market value of key properties.
“To date it has been a challenge,” Boswell admitted, explaining that the diocese owns various properties in widespread locations.
Other testimony centered on the diocese’s legal argument that Gallup priests and Gallup parishes are somehow separate from the Diocese of Gallup.
“No they’re not employees of the diocese,” Linscott said of Catholic priests working in the Diocese. Later in his testimony, Linscott admitted some parishes might need to contribute money to the diocese for settlements with sex abuse claimants.
When Manly asked Wall how much money parishes can spend without approval from the chancery or if parishes can enter into contracts without the chancery’s approval, Wall admitted he did not know the answers.
“Well, they’re on the website,” Manly said, explaining the Gallup Diocese had the information posted online under its fiscal guidelines.
“Can parishes fire their pastors?” Manly asked the bishop.
“I don’t believe so,” Wall replied.
Walker, the diocese’s Albuquerque attorney, angrily objected twice to Manly and Pastor’s line of questioning during the meeting. At one point, Walker held out his right arm in a blocking motion toward Pastor and said, “This isn’t a deposition, do you know that?”
This first Unsecured Creditors Committee meeting exceeded its scheduled time and ran nearly four hours. It will reconvene at 10 a.m., Jan. 23, in Judge David T. Thuma’s courtroom, located in Albuquerque’s U.S. Bankruptcy Court, 500 Gold Ave. S.W. The newly appointed committee, composed of seven clergy sex abuse survivors from the Gallup Diocese, should have an attorney by that date who will be able to ask further questions about diocesan finances. The meeting is open to the public.
