The Worthy Adversary

Category: AB 218

  • Archdiocese of SF removes predators on the quiet

    Archdiocese of SF removes predators on the quiet

    That was not the headline I was expecting to write in 2025. But alas, here I am.

    Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, the head of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, is one of only a handful of US bishops who has refused to release any lists of credibly accused priests.

    Since the 2018 Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report into sexual abuse in the five Catholic dioceses across that state, bishops nationwide realized that publishing lists was a good PR move and a way to show “baby steps” towards transparency.

    But not San Francisco. Oh noooooo …

    In fact, even after the Archdiocese decided to hide behind Chapter 11 bankruptcy (in light of approximately 500 child sexual abuse and cover-up civil cases), Cordileone remained tight fisted with his credibly accused list. And he has one … he’s said so.

    Now we know why he’s keeping it secret:

    According to a press event and news stories today, Archbishop Cordileone kept at least two long-time known predators in ministry until LAST YEAR.

    The priests:

    Fr. Daniel E. Carter, SM

    In 2003, Danielle Louise Lacampaghe filed a civil lawsuit against Carter and the Archdiocese of San Francisco for the child sexual abuse that Lacampaghe endured at the hands of Carter. The Archdiocese, then under the leadership of Cardinal William Levada, put Carter on temporary leave, pending an investigation by the lay review board.

    The board, not having spoken to Lacampaghe, found her account “not credible.” They put Carter back into ministry, despite the AD settling Lacampaghe’s civil suit in 2005.

    That didn’t stop Lacampaghe. She continued try and meet with AD officials to have Carter removed. To no avail.

    In 2019, when California passed AB 218, which again opened the statute of limitations for survivors of child sexual abuse, SIX MORE Carter survivors came forward and filed civil lawsuits.

    And guess who remains a priest in good standing?

    Seven survivors. I’d bet good money that the Lay Review Board knows nothing about them.

    Carter is currently listed as retired. But chances are he’s living in public, saying masses, and hiding in plain sight.

    Fr. Lawrence J. Finnegan

    In 1990, Sandra Marie Oldfield went to the Archdiocese of San Francisco to report that Fr. Lawrence J. Finnegan has sexually assaulted her.

    She received no response from the Archdiocese.

    Then in 2002, she reported the sexual assault to law enforcement. The Fairfax Police Department set up a “sting call,” where Oldfield was able to elicit a recorded confession from Finnegan.

    She received no reponse from the Archdiocese.

    When AB 218 passed into law, Oldfield filed a civil lawsuit against Finnegan and the Archdiocese. But it wasn’t until 2024 that a lawyer for the Archdiocese reached out to her and asked that she be interviewed by the lay review board … more than 30 years after her initial complaint.

    According to reports, only then Finnegan was quietly removed from active ministry. No announcement. No warning to parishioners. No transparency.

    What about the Lay Review Board?

    I’ve been writing about these boards for decades. (Yikes, I am an old-timer). The boards are populated with good, well-meaning people who want to stop abuse and cover-up.

    I was one of them – I was a survivor who wanted to make a change.

    But there is a problem: the boards are kept in the dark (and possibly open to liability) by the bishops. That’s why I know many more “former board members” than I can count.

    I was used as a patsy, so that’s why I and dozens of others have publicly stepped down from these boards and said: No More.

    NOTE: There are still amazing people on these boards, fighting for truth, and I applaud them. (I also encourage them to reach out to me confidentially)

    Hopefully, truth and transparency will win.

  • A “troubling” priest is going to trial.

    A “troubling” priest is going to trial.

    Fr. Timothy Ramaekers suddenly vanished. Surprised? You shouldn’t be.

    Readers of this blog should remember the Troubling Case of Timothy Ramaekers. Back in 2012, I wrote about how family and friends of Matthew Carrigan protested outside of Aliso Viejo’s Corpus Christi parish, saying that Ramaekers sexually molested Carrigan when Carrigan was a child at St. Justin Martyr Parish in Anaheim between 1978 and 1986.

    Guess what the Diocese of Orange did …

    They did nothing.

    Fast forward to 2019. The State of California passed AB 218, a three-year window for survivors of child sexual abuse. The law allowed child sexual abuse survivors, no matter when they were abused in California, to come forward and use the civil courts for justice.

    At least one survivor filed a case against Ramaekers. At this time, I do not know if this is the Carrigan case.

    What did the Diocese of Orange do when one of their priests was SUED for child sexual abuse? (Despite promises to adhere to the USCCB Charter and their own now-rabbit-holed Covenant with the Faithful)

    Nothing. They did NOTHING.

    A few months ago, a case against Ramaekers was one of ten released in the second set of “bellwether cases” of sexual abuse and cover-up against the diocese of Orange.

    (Last week, another bellwether against former Mater Dei Principal Michael Harris settled for $3.5 million)

    And guess who has suddenly been “retired?”

    Oh yes … and not retired to a parish where he can say Mass occasionally and help out. No. He’s retired to a PRIVATE RESIDENCE, where he can hide in peace while survivors’ attorneys take depositions and unearth evidence about WHAT the diocese knew about Ramaekers and WHEN they knew it.

    Gee … I wonder if they told the parishioners at Corpus Christi that their pastor is going to trial for sexual abuse?

    ** Note: This site is currently being updated. I have screenshots of the transfer and retirement notices that will be posted once the update is complete.

  • Diocese of Orange Child Sexual Abuse Lawsuits Update

    Diocese of Orange Child Sexual Abuse Lawsuits Update

    What the heck is going on?

    If you saw the local news this week, probably saw headlines about the $3.5 million settlement that the Diocese of Orange has agreed to pay a survivor of former Mater Dei Principal Michael Harris. The diocese also put out a horrible, tone-deaf, anti-survivor, unchristian statement about the survivor and the settlement, but that’s going to be the subject of a later post.

    But back to the settlement … As a result of the news, I have been getting a ton of questions. Let’s answer a few:

    Why could this survivor come forward?

    The survivor in this case came forward because of AB 218, the California Child Victims Act. It was a law that opened the civil window for survivors of child sexual abuse, allowing them to come forward and sue the person who abused them, as well as any organization that covered up the abuse.

    How many other survivors have come forward because of this law?

    There are approximately 4000 cases pending across the State of California (this number is loose, because several California dioceses have taken the coward’s route and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy). Not all of these cases are against Catholic entities—AB 218 was written so that survivors of child sexual abuse in public schools, camps, and other youth-serving organizations could use the civil courts for justice.

    According to attorneys for survivors, there are 227 child sexual abuse and cover-up cases pending in the Diocese of Orange. In October of this year, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to an $880 million settlement with approximately 1300 survivors of child sexual abuse.

    How many of these cases involve Mater Dei High School?

    I wish I could give you a good answer, but there are several challenges. The primary hurdle is that for the first 20+ years of the school’s existence, it was a part of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (The Diocese of Orange was formed in 1976 and Mater Dei was founded in 1950). Cases of abuse that occurred before 1976 (and yes, there was abuse and there are documents to support survivors accounts) are a part of the $880 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

    The second challenge is that while the cases are coordinated, the much of the information is under protective order. (If there are attorneys out there repping these survivors who feel comfortable sharing info with me, please do). I do know that one firm, Jeff Anderson and Associates, has eight Mater Dei cases. Manly, Stewart, and Finaldi also has a bunch (attorney John Manly is a graduate of the school), but I don’t have an exact number. I’ve also spoken to other firms who have a case or two.

    So, while I can’t give a solid number, I can say this: the number is big and it’s ugly.

    Why did this Harris case settle while others are under protective order?

    This Harris case (as well as 9 others) were chosen as “Bellwether cases.” That means that the judge asked the two sides (the church and attorneys for survivors) to get together and choose 10 cases to take to trial. All of these cases settled before going to trial (no surprise there), but during the process, survivors’ attorneys were allowed to take depositions, conduct investigations, and gather evidence. (Spoiler alert: once this starts, the diocese starts to look reeeeeeeaaaally bad).

    Because these cases resolved somewhat peacefully, the judge has ordered a new set of bellwether cases to be released for trial. Ten of those cases are for the Diocese of Orange and two are from Mater Dei.

    The Mater Dei cases include another Michael Harris case and a child sexual abuse case against former Mater Dei football/track coach Patrick Callahan.

    Another predator on the bellwether list who will be familiar to readers of this blog is All American Boys Chorus founder and director Fr. Richard Coughlin. He was sent to OC from Boston in the 1960s because he—you guessed it—abused kids. So, he came here to OC and founded a boys’ choir. Because that’s what you do …

    Later posts will discuss other perps on the new bellwether list.

    Got other questions? Intel? Let me know!

  • School for Scandal 101: Santa Ana’s Mater Dei High School

    School for Scandal 101: Santa Ana’s Mater Dei High School

    Recent hazing and violence lawsuits against Mater Dei have alerted a lot of noses to a stink that has been brewing for years: decades of child sexual abuse, hazing, and cover-up at the infamous high school.

    The parents of a recent hazing victim remarked to me that they had had no idea about the scandals at the school—what happened to me, what happened to dozens (perhaps hundreds) of other kids, and the administration that has always put the school’s reputation above child safety and obeying the law.

    And for decades, kids like me and their own son paid the price. This has to stop.

    So, over the next few weeks, this blog will be devoted to a comprehensive guide to the places, the personalities and the events that made this “school for scandal.”

    The Basics: The People Who Made it Possible

    This below is a “living” list of known, credibly accused predators who worked at Mater Dei. As more names are exposed, they will be added here with the date of addition. Some of the predators were there for decades. Others, just a few weeks. But grooming and abusing a kid doesn’t take much time, especially when you have the power to withhold a kid’s spiritual life, school transcripts, ability to graduate, or college admissions …

    You can click on each name for an introductory article. I invite you to do more research on each of them.

    And Mater Dei doesn’t stop at sex abuse. When a storied football coach assaulted and choked a female (and much smaller) athletic trainer because she wanted to keep the locker rooms locked, he got promoted in the press and she was forced to leave the school. The trial ended with a hung jury:

    And Mater Dei shouldn’t consider this list complete. A couple of years ago, California opened a new civil window for survivors—AB 218. This law allows survivors of abuse—no matter when the abuse occurred—to use the civil courts to expose predators and institutional cover-up. The first two years of the window were stunted by Covid and windows in other states. But starting last week, California is one of the only states with an open civil window. As a result, I expect this list to grow. Exponentially.

    Keep checking back here for updates. Future posts will include abuse facilitators, events, media attention, alumni reaction, how Mater Dei treats victims of abuse, and other topics.

    But when push comes to shove, this list alone should be a HUGE eyeopener. Since it takes survivors decades to come forward (and we know that MD treats survivors like sh*t), I would not be surprised is there is a trove of predators working at the school in 2000s and 2010s who have yet to be exposed.

  • Diocese of Orange snags more than $24 mil in PPP loans

    Diocese of Orange snags more than $24 mil in PPP loans

    Today, the Associated Press released a blockbuster article about how the Catholic Church in the United States has obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in PPP loans, despite a lack of need.


    In Orange County, California, Bishop Kevin Vann treated PPP loans like a taxpayer-funded ATM machine.


    Catholic entities under Vann’s direct management collected more than $24 million. This includes $3.6 million for the main diocese offices, $8 million for high schools, $1.8 million for the Education and Welfare Corporation, $10 million for parishes and more than $200K for the Orange Catholic Foundation. The foundation alone is sitting on $72 million in assets, according to its 2019 financial statement. All of the loan amounts can be accessed through the PPP loan database.


    The PPP loans were intended to keep small businesses afloat during the pandemic, not help large, well-funded religious entities amass greater wealth and power. It’s another example of how the Diocese of Orange (and other dioceses nationwide) use their nonprofit status to exploit the tax code, and, according to the Los Angeles Times, use their “charitable foundations” to fill their coffers and hide assets from survivors of child sexual abuse.
    This is all going on while hundreds, perhaps thousands, of survivors throughout California are coming forward to demand accountability under California’s civil window for child sex abuse survivors. Will Bishop Vann suddenly cry poor again? Will he use his “charitable foundation” and forgivable PPP loans to hide in bankruptcy court, like many other Catholic dioceses have done? Will he continue to sue anyone who criticizes him?

    It’s time that elected officials and the public hold Bishop Vann (and every other Catholic bishop) accountable to survivors of child sexual abuse, taxpayers, the US government, and small business owners—all of whom are being cheated and manipulated.


    If Bishop Vann can spend $14 million in 2019 to repair an organ and rehab the former Crystal Cathedral, he can return $24 million to taxpayers who should not be funding his extravagant displays of wealth.