The Worthy Adversary

Tag: SNAP

  • Call me crazy, but priests who admit to sexually assaulting ANYONE need to find a new job …

    I mean, c’mon. Fr. Davila pled GUILTY. He wouldn’t pass the diocese background check, yet he’s in a parish:

    Bishops Robert Brom and Cirillo Flores say that they have addressed all of the pastoral concerns. Really? How about the concerns of the victim?

    ************************************

    For immediate release: Tuesday, June 12

    For more information: David Clohessy (314.566.9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com), Joelle Casteix (949-322.7434, jcasteix@gmail.com)

    Victims ask US bishops to censure CA colleague

    “Denounce San Diego’s recklessness,” SNAP begs

    They’re upset that a convicted priest is back in a parish

    Clergy sex abuse victims are urging America’s Catholic bishops to denounce San Diego’s top church official for restoring a priest to ministry barely a month after he pled guilty to molesting a teenage parishioner.

    In a letter sent today to the prelates, leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, express concern about Fr. Jose Alexis Davila of San Diego. In April, he pled guilty to battery for groping a then-19-year-old parishioner at her home. He was given three years’ probation. A month later, San Diego Bishop Robert Brom quietly put Davila back into active parish ministry at St. Jude’s Catholic Church.

    “It’s hard to imagine a more reckless move,” said Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, Western Regional Director of SNAP. “This basically sends the message that you can assault teenagers and go unpunished.”

    According to a press release last week from the Diocese of San Diego, officials there “have no reason to believe that women or children are at a risk because of [Davila’s] return to ministry.”

    Leaders of SNAP argue instead that his conviction shows that Davila is still a threat. They also believe that the decision to put Davila back into a parish so soon after being convicted of a sex crime flies in the face of the bishops’ sex abuse policy, and are hoping that other members of the church hierarchy will recognize the problem and work to fix it.

    “A decade ago, America’s bishops pledged to ‘correct’ each other when clergy sex cases were mishandled,” said Barbara Dorris, SNAP Outreach Director. “That’s what we want to see here. If wrongdoing is ignored, wrongdoing is encouraged. So we’re hoping that – formally or informally – at least a few bishops will be brave enough to publicly say ‘The San Diego Catholic hierarchy is acting irresponsibly.’”

    America’s bishops hold their semi-annual meeting this week. They are scheduled to discuss their ten-year old national abuse policy. SNAP wants that policy “radically revamped” to include penalties for “church officials who “ignore, hid and enable child sex crimes.”

    (SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 12,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers and increasingly, victims who were assaulted in a wide range of institutional settings like summer camps, athletic programs, Boy Scouts, etc. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

    Contact – David Clohessy (314-566-9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, bblaine@snapnetwork.org), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688, 314-503-0003, SNAPdorris@gmail.com), Joelle Casteix (949-322-7434, jcasteix@gmail.com), Peter Isely (414-429-7259, peterisely@yahoo.com)

     

     

  • Bishop Jaime Soto has some explaining to do about Uriel Ojeda

    If you are in the Sacramento area, I hope you can join us. I think that Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto has said, “Report abuse to the Diocese,” so many times, that he thinks it’s the right thing to do. (P.S. Even the Pope says to call the cops first)

     

    For immediate release: June 6, 2012

    Contact: Joelle Casteix (949) 322-7434, jcasteix@gmail.com

     

    NEWS EVENT: Victims say Sacramento bishop hinders prosecution

    He won’t disclose report of predator’s confession

    Such secrecy keeps other victims silent, group says

    It urges Sacramento prelate to attend court hearing on Friday

    SNAP to Soto: “Teach your flock how to back cleric without hurting victims”

    “Stop telling victims to report to the church, tell them to call cops instead,” they say

     

    What: Holding signs and childhood photos, child sex abuse victims and their supporters will try to hand-deliver a letter to Sacramento’s Catholic bishop urging him to:

    • attend Friday’s hearing for an accused pedophile priest,
    • make public a church staffer’s report of that priest’s admission of the crime, and
    • insist that his flock quietly support accused clerics and stop scaring their accusers.

     

    The group will also blast the bishop for continuing to ask victims to report crimes to church officials instead of law enforcement.

    When: Thursday, June 7 at 12:45 pm

    Where: Outside of the Sacramento Diocese headquarters, 2110 Broadway (at 19th) in Sacramento

    Who: Two-to-three victims of child sex abuse who are members of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, including a California woman who is the group’s Western Regional Director.

    Why: Fr. Uriel Ojeda, a Redding-area priest, was arrested in December. He faces criminal charges of sexually abusing a child under 14 and will be in court on Friday for his preliminary hearing.

    SNAP says that Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto is not doing enough to help victims and witnesses in the case and is hindering prosecution by his “continued secrecy.”

    According to press reports and the prosecutor, Ojeda confessed his crimes to a church-paid private investigator.

    SNAP wants Soto to make the investigator’s report public to help enable more victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to speak up, help police, get therapy, protect others and start healing. Disclosing the report would also protect kids, since some parents still believe Ojeda is innocent.

    At earlier court hearings, dozens of Ojeda’s supporters filled the courtroom, said they disbelieved the charges and released helium balloons to “celebrate” the admitted predator’s release on bail.

    “These parishioners are unintentionally scaring and silencing victims and witnesses,” said Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, SNAP Western Regional Director. “Soto should insist that these confused Catholics back accused predators quietly, so no other victims, witnesses or whistleblowers are hurt more or scared into staying silent. By his inaction, Soto is hurting law enforcement officials in this case and others.”

    SNAP is urging Soto to attend the Friday hearing and personally show Ojeda’s supporters how to show respect for victims and survivors while quietly supporting the priest.

    The group also asking Soto to post on diocesan and parish websites an educational pamphlet “What to do when your priest is accused.”

    Finally, the group is blasting Soto for telling victims to report crimes to church officials.

    “Even Pope Benedict has said that victims should report crimes to civil authorities,” Casteix said. “Our experience has shown us that victims and witnesses must report to law enforcement in order for predators and enablers to be prosecuted and kept away from kids. By telling victims to call the church, Soto is recklessly endangering kids by delaying criminal justice. It’s not the Bishop’s job to determine what is or isn’t a crime. That’s why we have police and prosecutors.”

    Copies of the letter and the educational flier will be available at the event.

     


  • Plead guilty to sexual assault? No worries! Brom has got your back!

    **Updated with correction and Diocese Reponse**

    File this under: “What the hell are they thinking?”

    Diocese of San Diego priest Fr. Jose Alexis Davila, who in April pled guilty to to battery and “engaging in an unlawful touching of an intimate part of the victim’s body,” is back at work at his old parish. You know, the one with the state-funded preschool. (The preschool, I am told, has been shut down)

    If you don’t know the whole story, Davila went to a parishioner’s home on New Year’s Eve (she was a 20-year-old woman) and forced himself on her. We don’t know if more happened. But really, the guilty plea is enough, n’est-ce pas?

    Yeah, say San Diego Bishop Robert Brom and his successor Cirillo Flores (who is a licensed civil lawyer), it’s enough to get you your job back! You WIN!

    It gets worse: Davila has been put right smack in the same place where parishioners formed a “lynch mob” and went to the victim’s home in an attempt to get her to recant her story. They kicked her mom out of Bible study. They badgered her family.

    Did Brom or Flores step in and say, “This is not what Jesus would do?” Did they try to hold listening sessions at the parish so that parishioners could hear from other victims? Hell, no. They sat back and allowed their flock to descend into a mob mentality and engage in pseudo-criminal behavior in order to thwart the justice system. Um, excuse me … anyone home on Paducah Drive? You have a big problem here. Don’t you have a Charter for this very thing?

    I could go into how these kinds of actions alienate survivors, scare victims into silence, discourage reporting, enable criminals, put kids in danger, etc. I could say that this flagrant and dangerous act defies common sense, Christianity, and the New Testament (which really frowns upon lynch mobs, endangering children and awarding criminals who show no contrition).

    But let’s look at the bishop’s own rulebook: Davila now has a record. Davila works in a position of power at a parish with a STATE FUNDED CHILD CARE CENTER. Davila will not pass any Church- and common sense-mandated background check.  THEY ARE BREAKING THEIR OWN RULES.

    The solution is simple, Most Revs. Brom and Flores: Let Davila work in a remote and secure facility where he has no contact with kids. Reach out to hurting confused parishioners. Embrace the victim and invite her and her family back to church (All those “Catholics Come Home” brochures? They don’t work when you allow your flock to form angry mobs and go after victims and their families and put offenders in nice jobs at parishes.)

    Below is the press release that SNAP sent out earlier today. I would go to the parish, but I’m afraid that I’d get killed. Nice.

    Here is the statement by Rodrigo Valdivia, Chancellor of the Diocese of San Diego:

    The Diocese of San Diego and Father Alexis Davila have fully cooperated with law enforcement and all legitimate and pastoral concerns have been addressed as regards his case.

    Consequently, we have no reason to believe that women or children are at risk because of his return to ministry. He returned to St. Jude at the beginning of May.

    I’m speechless. I welcome your comments …

    ******************************

    Convicted predator quietly put back in SD parish

    He pled guilty to unlawful sexual touching

    Yet, months later, he’s back around kids, teens

    Victim and her family were subject to “lynch mob”

    SNAP: “Bishop breaks promises & endangers parishioners”

    A Catholic priest who was convicted of trying to sexually assault a 20-year-old woman earlier this year has quietly been put back to work in a San Diego parish.

    Clergy sex abuse victims want him removed. They fear he may assault other vulnerable young women.

    According to the parish website, Fr. Jose Alexis Davila is now the Associate Pastor at St. Jude’s Catholic Church (3785 Boston Ave, San Diego, CA 92113, 619-264-2195). A concerned parishioner alerted a support group called SNAP, (the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) to the assignment.

    Today, leaders of SNAP are writing San Diego Bishop Brom and and his successor Bishop Crillo Flores, urging them to oust Davila.

    “These Catholic officials are basically telling employees that ‘If you try to rape a woman, we’ll still give you a job – but quietly – even if you’re convicted in court,’” said Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, SNAP Western Regional Director.

    Fr. Davila was arrested in January 2012 for attempting to sexually assault a 20-year-old woman who attended church at St. Jude’s Shrine of the West in Southcrest.  He pleaded guilty to battery and “engaging in an unlawful touching of an intimate part of the victim’s body” in April and was sentenced to three years’ probation. He was also ordered to stay away from the victim.

    Last week, SNAP learned from an anonymous source that Davila was back at the St. Jude’s. Calls to the parish confirmed that Davila is currently on the job. As best as SNAP can tell, there was no public announcement that Davila was reinstated.

    In a letter sent today to Brom and Flores, SNAP is pushing for Davila’s permanent removal

    SNAP is also worried because a state-funded child care center is located at the parish.

    SNAP’s letter urges Brom and his successor to:

    — Immediately remove Davila from the parish

    –Put him in a remote, secure, independently run treatment center where he has no contact with women or children,

    –Apologize to the victim and her family for their “irresponsible” actions, and

    — Disclose Davila’s presence at the parish to the California State Board of Education, which funds the child care center at St. Jude’s parish.

    “We were shocked to hear that a convicted predator is back working in a parish,” said Casteix. “This should have been a slam-dunk: Davila pled guilty to sexually attacking a vulnerable young woman. He should never work in a parish again, period. That’s what the bishops have promised us for the past 10 years. And once again, Brom and his successor Flores have turned their backs on the victims they promised to protect.”

    SNAP’s letter pulls no punches.

    “You are violating both the letter and the spirit of your own 2002 abuse ‘reforms,’” the letter says. “If Davila can go unpunished for attacking a woman, every woman, including others at and near his parish, are at risk.”

    SNAP is also concerned about the treatment of the victim in this case. According to press reports, parishioners harassed her family members, came to her home to try and force her to recant, and kicked her mother out of her Bible study group. Because Davila has been ordered to stay away from the victim, it is unknown if the victim and her family are even able to attend mass at the parish.

    SNAP believes that these actions scare other victims, witnesses and whistleblowers into staying silent.

    “When parishioners lashed out at the victim and shunned her mother from the church, you did nothing,” the letter says. “Because you are not reaching out and guiding your flock, you are supporting a predator at the cost of his victim and her family and the well-being of others.  We hope that the victim is reaching out and getting help and support from organizations and people who care about the welfare for survivors.”

    The diocese of San Diego is no stranger to sex abuse and cover up. In 2007, the Diocese settled with 144 victims of child sex abuse for $200 million. Diocese officials had attempted to hide behind bankruptcy protection, but allegations of fraud on the part of the Diocese eventually led to a settlement. Documents were released in October 2010 that exposed the scope and scale of the abuse and cover-up .

    Contact:
    Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, CA, SNAP Western Regional Director, 949-322-7434, jcasteix@gmail.com
    Barb Dorris of St. Louis, MO, SNAP Outreach Director, 314-503-0003, snapdorris@gmail.com
    David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP Executive Director, 314-566-9790, snapclohessy@aol.com

     

  • Notorious former OC priest Michael Harris headed to court on more abuse charges

    A sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit against former priest Msgr. Michael Harris, Mater Dei High School and the Diocese of Orange is slated to go to trial in Orange County Superior Court on June 18.

    Harris, the former principal of Mater Dei and Santa Margarita High Schools, has been smack in the center of the clergy sex abuse scandal in Orange County, with at least nine accusers settling with the Diocese of Orange in 2005, twelve accusers listed by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and a record $5.2 million settlement with victim Ryan DiMaria.

    Frankly put: Harris is a menace. We have seen Harris’ psych reports from the most notorious church-run facility for child molesting clerics (information that Msgr John Urell kept secret), and in 2001, Bishop Tod Brown told the Los Angeles Times:

    The Diocese of Orange has grave doubts about [Harris’] innocence in these matters, taking into consideration the number of complaints made against him, the similarity of those complaints and the apparent sincerity of the persons making these statements.

    The attorney for the victim, John Manly (another Mater Dei grad), is just coming off of a huge win in Stockton, where a jury unanimously decided that Fr. Michael Kelly sexually abused former Air Force pilot Travis Trotter. The Diocese of Stockton refused to remove Kelly from ministry during the litigation and spent four years trying to discredit Travis. After the verdict, Kelly skipped to Ireland. The case eventually settled for $3.75 million on the eve of the scheduled testimony of Cardinal Roger Mahony.

    No one knows Mater Dei, Harris and the Diocese of Orange better than Manly and his team do. There’s going to be a whole lot of Diocese dirty laundry aired. Want a great start off for your research? Start here. Since 2003 Gustavo Arellano at the OC Weekly has covered the story better (and longer) than anyone else.

    If you went to Mater Dei or Santa Margarita, sent your kids there, or donated money to the schools, you owe it to yourself to follow the trial. Although Harris is no longer a priest, his ties to the Diocese and Orange County money are strong. He’s only a free man because Mater Dei and Diocese officials didn’t care enough about any of the kids Harris abused to pick up the phone and call the cops. Shame on all of them.

     

    Disclaimers – I was a student at Mater Dei at the tail end of Harris’ tenure there. I had very limited interactions with him. But then again, he had very limited interactions with most girls. John Manly was my attorney in my 2003 case against the Diocese.

  • Dissecting Dolan’s Apologists

     

    Documents recently exposed in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee showed that NY Cardinal Timothy Dolan paid predator priests $20,000 to quietly leave the priesthood. Yeah, really.

    The response from Dolan? Cue the crickets. But that doesn’t mean that Dolan’s apologists have also clammed up. In fact, they have been very loud in defending Dolan, saying, “Well, at least he got rid of these bad apples.” If you want to read those articles, you can look them up. I really don’t want to drive traffic to them via my links.

    I am not going to rehash the same news you can find on a million other websites. I am also not going to restate the 9,000 fine points of the public safety hazard Dolan caused. Every point is painfully obvious to anyone with a soul. Instead, this post is about why the apologists are dead wrong.

    1) This ain’t the Wizard of Oz, sister. So quit trying to divert my attention.

    The Catholic League, Archbishop Charles Chaput and others always like to say, “There’s nothing to see here. Abuse is way worse in public schools. It’s a liberal conspiracy.” Here are my responses: Yes there is; Maybe; and Hell, no.

    Lady Justice carries a sword and scales. Do you know why?  So that she may not remove the blindfold from her eyes. Justice must remain blind, whether you wear the clerical collar or are a federal politician. What murderer could stand before the court and say, “Gee, maybe I killed one person, but look at Hitler. He killed millions.” It’s a ridiculous argument and should be viewed as such.

    I am going to give the apologists the same answer that my father gave me every day of my life until I moved out for good: “I don’t care what ‘everyone else’ is doing. You need to obey MY rules.” Dolan was WRONG. He BROKE THE LAW by not reporting abuse. He covered up for abusers. He must be held accountable. Period.

    2) If it’s okay to pay predator priests $20K, why didn’t you pay good and honorable priests the same amount when they choose to leave the priesthood?

    I know a number of former priests (and have talked to a couple before writing this. I encourage others to comment or contact me). I do not know a single good, honorable priest who was given a dime when they left the priesthood. A friend of my father’s and former LA priest Terrence Halloran (who reached out to me and has been an amazing and honest source of information and support), left the priesthood in 1967 because he fell in love. When I asked him, he said, “I didn’t even get paid for November 1967, my last full month in ministry.” He was also handed a bill (eventually forgiven by the Archdiocese of LA) for his education.

    Patrick Wall, a former priest and my friend and colleage (and according to the Official Catholic Directory 1994-1996 a judge/advocate for the Tribunal for the Archdiocese of Minneapolis/St. Paul – you can look it up. In fact, I INVITE you to, because it will be subject of a later post) was also handed a bill for his education when he left the priesthood. It was huge and it was never forgiven. He didn’t say that he was leaving to become an advocate for victims. He didn’t molest kids. He was just sick and tired of covering up for child molesters. His first job outside of the priesthood was as a nurses aide in a rest home. Now, the church is trying to say that he was never a judge/advocate. But the OCD never lies.

    These two good and honorable men were forced to enter the secular world with no savings, no support, no slush fund, no “wink and nod,” no annuity. So quit telling me that Dolan did the right thing by paying predators off to go away.  Twice-convicted child predator Oliver O’Grady is set for life, so why did Patrick Wall have to empty bedpans to eat?

    3) This has nothing to do with politics

    Yes, the bishops are suing the Obama administration regarding the Affordable Health Care Act. That is their right and duty under the Constitution. And yes, many liberal voices have spoken out for victims against the cover-up of abuse … but so have conservatives. So let’s cut to the chase: Sex abuse and cover up are not about politics. I know victims who have been ardent supporters of the cause who worked in the George H.W. Bush administration, victims who are Republicans, Libertarians, unaffiliated voters, and conservative Catholics. Some of my own biggest supporters are the mega-conservative Catholics who attending Latin services. Don’t tell me that this is a liberal conspiracy. Just as many Republicans were sexually abused as Democrats. Yes, the leadership of SNAP leans to the liberal side. So what? My husband is a Republican. (And I love my husband much more than I love David Clohessy. Sorry, David.)

    4) Predator public school teachers get paid off all of the time. Why aren’t you going after them?

    Yes, predator public school teachers get paid off all of the time. And I hate it, so I fight against it every time I can. But the public sector doesn’t use God, moral authority, eternal damnation or excommunication via lynch mod to hide abuse. The Catholic Church must be held to the same “higher standard” that that they demand of their faithful. Especially when they use tax dollars.

    That being said, the public sector MUST be held to account. That requires money, political power, influence and connections. It means fighting unions and the status quo. Heck, the U.S. Catholic Church itself doesn’t have the money to expose sex abuse in governmental organizations. It’s a grassroots movement in its infancy. But the real change will have to come from the inside with victims coming forward and demanding justice …just like the real change in exposing sex abuse in the Catholic Church came from victims and Catholics.

    We can continue the discussion in the comments or on Twitter at #CardinalDolan

    Find me on Twitter @jcasteix