Category: Clergy Abuse Crisis

In an attempt to mislead parishioners and the public and clear them of wrongdoing in hiring a priest who plead guilty to a sexual offense, the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is circulating the priest’s “expungement document.”

In this document, Fr. Jose Alexis Davila’s record of unlawful sexual touching is expunged. It is dated in 2015, after Davila should have completed the terms of his three-year probation.

What is an expungement?

An expungement document gives a person convicted of a crime a “fresh start.” It allows a person who was punished for an offense to tell prospective employers that they have not been convicted of a crime.

It is NOT a “Certificate of actual innocence,” which is a document stating that the actual crime didn’t happen.

Usually, a certificate of expungement is a part of a plea agreement: offender agrees to plead guilty, avoids trial, and is granted an expungement after probation is served.

Why is this expungement irrelevant?

This expungement is irrelevant because Davila is a priest who works with children and vulnerable adults. He is not an accountant, a warehouse worker, or a plumber.

As a priest, Davila should not only be held to a higher standard, but he is also subject to ZERO TOLERANCE and promised by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

He plead guilty to a sex crime. He should not work in a parish. Period.

Remember what prosecutors said he did:

Skeels told Commissioner Corinne Miesfeld that the defendant is accused of touching the victim in three areas against her will on Dec. 30. He touched her buttocks, put his finger in her vagina and touched her left breast, the prosecutor alleged.

Police said the alleged assault happened at Davila’s home in Southcrest while the two were alone. The defendant turned himself in two days later.

Let’s play a game of “Who to believe …”

In 2012, Fr. Jose Alexis Davila plead guilty to unlawful sexual touching.

We learned this week that Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley put Davila back in a parish.

Let’s see what Coakley had to say:

While Father Davila’s actions with an adult parishioner five years ago occurred in the presence of others at his office in California, he understands that those actions were perceived as inappropriate. He accepted the consequences of his lapse in judgment.

Let’s see what San Diego prosecutors had to say in 2012 about the crime (and remember … Davila ended up with a GUILTY PLEA):

Skeels told Commissioner Corinne Miesfeld that the defendant is accused of touching the victim in three areas against her will on Dec. 30. He touched her buttocks, put his finger in her vagina and touched her left breast, the prosecutor alleged.

Police said the alleged assault happened at Davila’s home in Southcrest while the two were alone. The defendant turned himself in two days later.

How stupid does Coakley think we are?

What exactly does it take to get a priest removed?

What does it take to get OKC Archbishop Paul Coakley to warn parishioners about a priest’s past?

What does it take to get a religious community to stop minimizing a guilty plea to a sex crime?

Fr. Jose Alexis Davila has now been exposed across San Diego and the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City as the man who plead guilty to unlawful sexual touching and battery in 2012. He sexually assaulted a woman in his home.

What did Archbishop Paul Coakley do? Well, he:

• Admitted that parishioners were not informed of Davila’s past
• Said he did a complete background check … and therefore knew Davila was an offender
• Issued a statement that said the event took place in front of other people and was a cultural misunderstanding (It wasn’t …)
• Allowed his priests to minimize the crime
• Went back on all of the US Bishops’ promises of Zero Tolerance by unilaterally deciding that Davila was fit for ministry, and
• Treated parishioners like stooges, assuming that they don’t need to know that a sex offender is leading their parishes.

It’s appalling and criminal. Coakley should be ashamed and removed.

I doubt Archbishop Coakley would allow Davila to run a parish if he were convicted of embezzlement.

Finally there is some good news.

A reauthorization bill in the US Senate has a new provision that extends the federal civil rights of victims of child sex crimes, including child sexual abuse and child pornography.

Last week, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a bill to reauthorize the Adam Walsh Act, a federal program enacted in 2006 that required states to classify sex offenders according to their crimes. The act also required states to implement a registration mechanism to monitor and control offenders’ whereabouts after (or in lieu of) jail time.

But the new provision added by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and supported by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) goes a step further in protecting the civil rights of victims by allowing them to use the courts to expose their abuse.

The provision would allow victims of these crimes to use the federal courts to sue their abusers until the victim is age 28. Right now victims only have until age 21.

It is unclear whether or not third party entities will be included in the bill.

Every small step helps …