In public schools, there is a prevalent problem called “Passing the Trash.” It’s when a teacher accused of sexual abuse is quietly moved from school to school within a district once allegations come to light. Evidence is buried by the district, witnesses and victims graduate or move, and the school district relies on the short civil statutes of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse in public schools.
It’s so prevalent, in fact, that educators and administrators use the term “Passing the Trash” themselves to describe the problem.
Want to see a textbook example of how Passing the Trash can destroy kids?
More than 15 kids had accused the teacher of inappropriate touching. The Palm Springs-area Desert Sands and Coachella Valley Unified Schools buried the complaints and let a predator stay in the classroom. Who suffered? You guessed it: the kids. How many victims? We will never know.
Sure, the Diocese of Orange and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles consider the crimes of Fr. Richard Coughlin of the All-American Boys Chorus and Fr. Eleuterio “Big Al” Ramos “old news,” but for his victims and their families, the pain is breaking news, every day.
Singing and the teaching of singing are very personal and very hands-on. It’s one-on-one (and before the days of awareness about sexual abuse, it was done behind closed doors). It’s not unusual for a vocal coach to touch a student (in a NON-SEXUAL WAY) to show a concept. It’s very personal and can get very emotional. Your body is your instrument. If a piano is out of tune, you hire a tuner. If your voice is out of tune … well, it’s personal.
The scandal in the chorus is very similar to what you’re seeing in U.S. Gymnastics.
The problem with the All-American Boys Chorus is that things really haven’t changed since Coughlin led the group. The culture that Fr. Coughlin created has continued in the decades after he left.
One example: Roger Alan Giese was a vocal coach for the chorus. He had been giving voice lessons to members for years. He was arrested in 2007 on multiple counts of sexual assault on a member of the chorus. Read the charges. They are gross. He conned his victim into thinking that Giese was a member of Delta Force.
Here is the rub: Giese was hired by the same people who were carefully chosen by Coughlin to turn a blind eye to how he was grooming and abusing chorus members. These were same people who should have implemented policies and procedures after Coughlin’s removal to ensure that the abuse NEVER HAPPENED AGAIN. But they didn’t.
Giese was exhibiting “red flag” behavior by telling the victim that he was a member of Delta Force; by having the victim and his brother for overnight visits; and by asking for samples of their body fluids. Yet, the chorus staff had NO POLICIES in place to forbid—or even notice—these behaviors.
What else has been happening in the chorus that we don’t know about? This is a touring group that goes outside of the country to perform. What else is going on when parents aren’t looking?
And who else used the chorus to molest innocent boys in far away locales?
The most tragic part of this story is that Giese was a singer in the chorus when he was boy. I do not believe the argument that being sexually abused as a child makes one more likely to become an abuser as an adult. But I do believe that Giese may have already had those tendencies.
And I believe Giese knew that The All-American Boys Chorus would be the easiest place to find prey.
So now we know that two alleged sex offenders—one with multiple accusations in two states and another who is on the lam in a foreign country—used The All-American Boys Chorus to find easy prey. We know that the same people are in charge now in 2017, who were in charge in 1993 and in 2007 when Coughlin and Giese were targeting kids.
Why would anyone take the risk of enrolling their kids in the choir?
If you have any information on these men or anyone else who hurt kids, call the DA, the police, or contact me and I will point you in the right direction.
Yesterday, the Diocese of Orange issued a statement responding to the latest sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit against Fr. Richard T. Coughlin. In it, they said:
Richard Coughlin was ordained in the archdiocese of Boston in 1953 and incardinated in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in the 1960s, predating the Diocese of Orange, which was founded in 1976. Coughlin left parish ministry upon founding the All American Boys Choir in the early 1970s. Coughlin never served as a priest of the Diocese of Orange. (emphasis mine)
They’re parsing words here. The diocese is trying to say that after 1976, when the Diocese of Orange was formed, Coughlin did not serve as a priest in any official capacity. Are they trying to say that he’s the chorus’ responsibility? I don’t know.
But the truth is far different. Here are photos of the 1993 Diocese of Orange Catholic Directory. Yes, I have a copy. I am that weird.
The third priest in the top row—the one RIGHT UNDER the word “SERVING” is Richard T. Coughlin. Here is a closeup. (Excuse the marks in the book. It’s a used copy).
But it gets better. When it comes to the “official” listing of priests in any diocese, the bible, so to speak, is The Official Catholic Directory (OCD). It is the authoritative source. EVERY listing must be approved by every diocese and archdiocese. In fact, it is so precise, that the Catholic Church in the United States submits the OCD to the IRS every year to establish their tax exempt status and the placement of priests and other U.S. religious (priests who belong to religious orders).
In 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1993, Coughlin is listed as a priest of the Diocese of Orange on special assignment with The All-American Boys Chorus.
The diocese might say, “See?! He’s on Special Assignment. He’s not our priest.” Sorry that doesn’t work. Other priests on special assignment are Msgr. John Urell, one of the diocese’s most powerful priests at the time and the “bishop’s man” when it came to the cover up of abuse. And he also said Mass every Sunday at the parish where he was in residence. Now, he’s a full-time parish priest.
Here is the listing from the 1990 OCD (yes, it’s tiny. Forgive me):
Here is the OCD listing from 1991:
Note: For those of you who have been following these stories for a while, you’ll see that there are a number of other names that are familiar: Franklin Buckman, Eleuterio Ramos …
I also have the listings from 1992 and 1993. I can get the listings going back to 1976. But I’m a horrible graphic artist and no one wants to look at page after page of proof that the Diocese of Orange is lying to you.
You get the point: Coughlin was a priest of the Diocese of Orange. He served in the Diocese of Orange with the full permission and blessing of the bishop. Period.
If the Diocese is going to lie to you about this—something that I can prove with their own paperwork, available in their own libraries—what else are they going to lie to you about?
The Diocese of Orange (California) and the All-American Boys Chorus were also named as defendants.
Coughlin’s case is awful. He was sent to Orange County in the 1960s from Boston after being accused of abuse there (you can read his entire assignment history here). At the time, Orange County was part of the Los Angeles Archdiocese. When The Diocese of Orange was spun off in 1976, Coughlin came along as an added bonus.
Not longer after Coughlin’s arrival in Orange, he began forming boys choral groups. Eventually, the All-American Boys Chorus was born and allegedly provided Coughlin with a steady stream of victims.
Richard Coughlin was ordained in the archdiocese of Boston in 1953 and incardinated in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in the 1960s, predating the Diocese of Orange, which was founded in 1976. Coughlin left parish ministry upon founding the All American Boys Choir in the early 1970s. Coughlin never served as a priest of the Diocese of Orange. (emphasis mine)
Are they sure they want to stick by that? There’s time for a retraction and an apology before tomorrow. I’m not going anywhere.
Tomorrow is going to be a stormy day in Garden Grove—and not just because we are expecting the weather event of the year.
