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href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ocpriest18may18.story">http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ocpriest18may18.story</A><BR>
<H4>THE STATE</H4>
<H1>Orange Diocese Gives Details on Sex Abuse</H1>
<H2>Documents show how officials covered for, transferred and even promoted
pedophiles.</H2>By William Lobdell and Jean Guccione<BR>Times Staff
Writers<BR><BR>May 18, 2005<BR><BR>For more than two decades, officials in the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange covered up for priests who molested children,
shuffling predators from parish to parish and diocese to diocese, protecting
them from prosecution and failing to warn parishioners of the danger, according
to church documents released Tuesday.<BR><BR>More than 10,000 pages of letters,
handwritten notes, memos and other documents detailing church actions were
released from the personnel files of 15 priests and teachers as part of a
court-approved $100-million settlement reached in December between the Orange
Diocese and 90 alleged molestation victims. A judge ruled, however, that he was
"powerless" to order the release of files on eight other priests and
teachers.<BR><BR>According to the newly released documents, church officials
dumped one serial molester in Tijuana. They welcomed a convicted child abuser
from another state into their diocese, even though they knew he faced a new
allegation. When he was accused once again, they sent him to a New Mexico
rehabilitation center with a notation: "No one else will take you." And they
offered a repeat abuser up to $19,000 to leave the priesthood
quietly.<BR><BR>Even as they coddled abusive priests, church officials
stonewalled and ostracized victims' families, the documents show.<BR><BR>"It is
hard to believe that our spiritual leaders would knowingly sacrifice lives of
innocent children … to keep up the façade and [live] a lie," a woman wrote in a
1986 letter to Diocesan Administrator John T. Steinbock, now bishop of Fresno,
after learning that Andrew Christian Andersen, a Huntington Beach priest who
allegedly molested her son in 1983, had gone on to sexually abuse three more
boys. <BR><BR>"How many more innocent children does he have to molest before
something is done about this sick man!" she wrote.<BR><BR>The pattern of
deception involved two bishops of Orange — William R. Johnson, now deceased, and
Norman F. McFarland, who retired in 1998 — and Auxiliary Bishop Michael P.
Driscoll, now bishop of Boise. It also involved Msgr. John Urell, then a top
diocesan official and now pastor of St. Norbert Church in Orange.<BR><BR>Bishops
in Milwaukee; Baker, Ore.; and Tijuana helped the Orange Diocese shuffle
molesting priests around, according to the documents. And an archbishop from
Panama who was working in Orange County intimidated an alleged victim's family
so they would not contact police, according to a mother's
letter.<BR><BR>Driscoll, who handled allegations of clergy sexual misconduct
under both Johnson and McFarland, took the unusual step this month of issuing an
apology in anticipation of documents revealing his role in the Orange County
scandal. "I am deeply sorry that the way we handled cases at that time allowed
children to be victimized by permitting some priests to remain in ministry, for
not disclosing their behavior to those who might be at risk, and for not
monitoring their actions more closely," he said in a statement posted on a Boise
diocesan website.<BR><BR>Driscoll declined to comment further. McFarland and
Urell couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday.<BR><BR>"I would say Bishop
Driscoll's a sick, immoral person to allow something like this to take place,"
said David Guerrero, 37, of Palm Springs, who was allegedly abused beginning at
age 8 by Father Siegfried Widera, who was already convicted of molestation when
he joined the Orange Diocese. Guerrero said he received "several million" in the
settlement. "And now he's the bishop of Boise? It's disgusting."<BR><BR>The
culture of shielding predator priests and ignoring victims' complaints in Orange
closely parallels that of other dioceses where church personnel files have been
made public.<BR><BR>The release of confidential priest personnel files in Boston
triggered the eruption of the church's national sexual abuse scandal three years
ago. The disclosures led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard F. Law of Boston
as archbishop, thousands of lawsuits across the nation, and a series of reforms
enacted by U.S. bishops.<BR><BR>In California, nearly 1,000 claims were filed
under a 2003 state law that suspended the statute of limitations for one year to
allow plaintiffs to sue institutions that failed to protect children from sexual
abuse.<BR><BR>So far, Bishop of Orange Tod D. Brown is the only California
prelate to resolve all of his diocese's sexual abuse claims and make public some
of his priests' personnel files without a court order. But files were released
for only about one-third of the 44 diocesan employees accused of wrongdoing — 31
priests, 10 educators, two nuns and one brother.<BR><BR>Files for some of the
accused were not released because they were not part of the December settlement,
because they belonged to other dioceses or religious orders, or because they
objected.<BR><BR>On Tuesday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Peter D.
Lichtman said he had no jurisdiction to release the files for those who objected
because the lawsuits had been settled.<BR><BR>"Only the most naive believe these
files are complete," said Mary Grant, regional director of the Survivors Network
of those Abused by Priests.<BR><BR>While Brown has been known as a reformer on
the issue of abusive clergy, the documents show he failed that same year to
inform parishioners of all the allegations against two priests. Brown said he
was unaware of previous allegations in one of the cases.<BR><BR>"With these
documents in the hands of those who have suffered, it is another step on the
path to healing and reconciliation," Brown said. "The settlement with the
victim-survivors wasn't just about the financial payments. It was about taking
moral responsibility for the sins of the past that have caused their suffering
and pain."<BR><BR>With the release of the Orange documents, the spotlight
returns to Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles, who has been fighting for
two years to keep similar papers secret.<BR><BR>The senior U.S. cardinal, whose
archdiocese faces lawsuits from 544 parishioners, has argued that any
communication between a bishop and his priest should be off-limits to secular
authorities, lawyers and alleged victims. <BR><BR>Unlike Brown, who became
bishop in 1998, after most of the alleged sexual abuse took place, Mahony,
appointed in 1985, presided over a period when many priests in Los Angeles were
accused of molesting children. Mahony has admitted "mistakes" in how he handled
accusations against his priests.<BR><BR>The most revealing documents in Orange
County center on five priests, including three of the diocese's most notorious
predators: Siegfried Widera, Eleuterio "Al" Ramos and Andrew Christian Andersen.
Files on two other priests, Franklin Buckman and Michael Pecharich, show how
diocesan officials downplayed allegations and were slow to respond to
complaints.<BR><BR>According to the files:<BR><BR><B>Siegfried
Widera<BR><BR></B>Most of Widera's story has been well-documented. Church
officials in Orange conceded in 2002 that they accepted the Milwaukee priest
into their diocese in 1977 despite a vague warning in a letter from
then-Archbishop William E. Cousins of Milwaukee that in earlier years Widera had
a "moral problem having to do with a boy in school." In fact, he had already
been convicted in 1973 of molesting a boy.<BR><BR>In 1985, after an allegation
of sexual abuse in Orange County surfaced, church officials barred Widera from
performing priestly duties. He was then sent to a Catholic rehabilitation center
in New Mexico for treatment, which he never completed. He later became a Tucson
businessman.<BR><BR>In 2002, when the church's national sex abuse scandal
exploded, other Widera victims came forward and authorities charged him with 42
counts of molestation in Orange County and Milwaukee. <BR><BR>That same year,
Widera became a fugitive and spent a year on the run, mostly in Mexico. In 2003,
Mexican authorities cornered him in Mazatlan and he leapt to his death from a
third-floor hotel window. He was 62.<BR><BR>According to the newly released
documents, what Cousins actually wrote Driscoll was not only that Widera had a
"moral problem having to do with a boy in school," but also that he had a more
recent "repetition" and needed to leave the state for legal
reasons.<BR><BR>"From all the professional information I can gather, there would
seem no great risk in allowing this man to return to pastoral work but there are
legal complications at present writing," Cousins wrote. "Incidentally, these
legal technicalities would permit Father's going to another state as long as
treatment is continued."<BR><BR><B>Eleuterio "Al" Ramos<BR><BR></B>In 1993 and
1994, two lawsuits were filed against the Orange Diocese and Ramos, alleging
that the priest had molested two boys. The suit said Ramos gave both boys
alcohol, showed them adult movies and magazines, and molested them.<BR><BR>Ramos
admitted in court documents to molesting several boys and taking nude photos of
them. <BR><BR>The priest was sent to a rehabilitation center in Massachusetts,
then returned to the diocese. <BR><BR>Church officials in Orange said he was
transferred to Tijuana in 1985.<BR><BR>According to a lawsuit filed in 2003,
Ramos and three other men gang-raped a boy in a San Diego hotel room in 1984.
Another suit filed in 2003 alleged that Ramos continued to molest at least one
Orange County boy who visited him after the priest left the Orange
Diocese.<BR><BR>Ramos told police in 2003 that he had had sex with or fondled at
least 25 boys. He died in 2004, at age 64.<BR><BR>The church documents on Ramos
released Tuesday provide substantially more detail. Four complaints over nine
years were lodged against Ramos before Driscoll sought to transfer him to the
Diocese of Tijuana, the documents show.<BR><BR>In 1975, Ramos underwent
"psychological care" that was "suggested by the district attorney as a result of
a recent incident," according to an internal memo. At the same time, he was
moved from Resurrection Catholic Church in Los Angeles to St. Joseph Church in
Placentia.<BR><BR>In November 1979, a teacher at Immaculate Heart of Mary School
in Santa Ana, where Ramos had been transferred next, asked then-Bishop Johnson
in a handwritten letter for a meeting about a "very grave school matter." Notes
scribbled at the bottom of the letter say, "Boys taken to rectory. Some
drinking. Boys to movies. Not approved for children."<BR><BR>Shortly afterward,
a letter from Johnson informed Ramos' pastor that the priest would be entering
St. Luke's Institute in Holliston, Mass., a rehabilitation center for Catholic
priests. <BR><BR>While Ramos was in treatment, Johnson praised him in a 1980
letter to a parishioner as a "fine priest, zealous and generous
hearted."<BR><BR>When Ramos returned from St. Luke's, records show, he was
reassigned to a new parish, St. Angela Merici in Brea. <BR><BR>In 1982, Ramos
was accused of molesting another boy, documents show.<STRONG> </STRONG>He was
ordered to take two weeks' vacation and undergo additional counseling. The next
year, he was transferred to Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in La Habra.<BR><BR>In
1984, he was promoted to pastor of his own parish, St. Anthony Claret in Anaheim
— the same year for which he was accused of gang-raping the boy in San Diego.
<BR><BR>In 1985, Ramos told an unnamed church official that he had a "slip" with
a 17-year-old boy, according to notes of that telephone conversation. Driscoll
arranged for Ramos' transfer that year to the Diocese of Tijuana, documents
show. <BR><BR>Tijuana Bishop Emilio Berlie accepted the priest after Driscoll
detailed in a letter some, but not all, of the allegations in Ramos' file.
Driscoll also withheld key details about the 1982 allegations, saying only that
the priest was accused of showing adult movies and "girlie magazines" to a
boy.<BR><BR>Driscoll's notes from the 1982 meeting with the alleged victim's
parents reveal more.<BR><BR>"Motel. Unbutton shirt. Pull string on pants…. Hold
hand. Try to touch crotch. Wanted out."<BR><BR>While Ramos was in Tijuana, the
documents show, the Orange Diocese provided him with a car, car insurance and a
monthly stipend. Church officials wrote off $73,616.11 that Ramos owed the
diocese, according to a 1994 memo to then-Bishop McFarland.<BR><BR>Several
letters in the priest files show parishioners' and teachers' frustration with
the church's inaction on the serial pedophile.<BR><BR>"I was one of the people
from [the school] who went to the bishop to demand [Ramos'] removal," a faculty
member wrote to the mother of a Ramos victim. "It wasn't until one of our
teachers telephoned Msgr. Driscoll and said if he wasn't removed and placed
under treatment by the first of that week, she would have him charged with
'contributing to the delinquency of a minor' and then the diocese
moved."<BR><BR><B>Andrew Christian Andersen<BR><BR></B>It previously had been
reported that Andersen was accused in 1983 of molesting a boy. Then-Bishop
Johnson ordered him into therapy, but he remained at his Huntington Beach
parish, St. Bonaventure, and in charge of the altar boys.<BR><BR>Three years
later, the priest faced up to 56 years in state prison after being convicted of
26 felony counts of child molestation, according to court documents.<BR><BR>The
judge gave Andersen no prison time and instead ordered him to enter a Catholic
rehabilitation center in New Mexico. Four years later, in 1990, Andersen was
arrested in Albuquerque on suspicion of trying to sodomize a 14-year-old boy,
and was ordered to serve six years in prison for violating his probation in the
California case.<BR><BR>Tuesday's release of documents added new details. A 1986
evaluation of Andersen by Kenneth Fineman, a consulting psychologist for the
diocese, reported that "in the parish, fantasies involving young boys occupied
50% of his fantasy life" and that "incarceration would not be an effective
deterrent for this man."<BR><BR>George Niederauer, Andersen's spiritual director
at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo and now bishop of Salt Lake City, wrote to
Luis A. Cardenas, an Orange County Superior Court judge at the time, and pleaded
for leniency.<BR><BR>Andersen "might well have misjudged what was appropriate
physical expression especially given the atmosphere of adult-child contacts in
our society at present," wrote Niederauer, adding that the boys might have
misconstrued "wrestling" or "horse play" as sexual abuse.<BR><BR>Jaime Soto, now
auxiliary bishop of Orange, also wrote to the judge, downplaying Andersen's
crimes.<BR><BR>"Our work brings us into intimate contact with people's lives,"
he wrote. "In a time when the exchange of simple affection within the most
intimate of circles has become a rare commodity, our associations with others
run the grave risk of being misunderstood by all parties including perhaps the
priest himself."<BR><BR>Soto and Niederauer couldn't be reached for
comment.<BR><BR>The documents also described how Urell and Driscoll devised a
plan in 1994 to pay Andersen between $9,000 and $19,000 to quietly leave the
priesthood, according to correspondence between church officials.<BR><BR>"If
[Andersen] refuses to get going with the laicization process, he receives none
of this," Urell wrote to Driscoll.<BR><BR>Andersen was defrocked and his
whereabouts are unknown. He is 53.<BR><BR><B>Michael Pecharich<BR><BR></B>Bishop
Brown removed Pecharich from ministry in 2002 as part of a court-ordered
"zero-tolerance" policy, permitting the priest to tell parishioners that he had
"transgressed the personal boundaries of an adolescent" 19 years before. Church
officials said Pecharich admitted to then-Bishop McFarland in 1996 that he had
sexually abused the minor, but was allowed to continue as pastor of San
Francisco Solano Church in Rancho Santa Margarita, across the street from Santa
Margarita High School.<BR><BR>According to Pecharich's file, there were several
other allegations of inappropriate conduct.<BR><BR>In 1993, a woman had
complained to Urell that the priest, while at St. Bridget of Sweden in Van Nuys
sometime before 1976, had hugged her son too long. She also reported that other
boys said the priest had invited them to sleep in his bed. <BR><BR>According to
his notes from the meeting, Urell said he needed to interview her son to verify
the complaint. The meeting apparently never happened, and Urell wrote that he
would not confront the priest because he had no direct complaint, nor were "any
actions alleged."<BR><BR>In 1995, a Jesuit seminarian told Urell in a letter and
at a meeting that when he was 15 or 16 years old, Pecharich had locked him in a
counseling room at San Antonio de Padua Catholic Church in Anaheim and given him
five-minute hugs and kisses.<BR><BR>The next year, another woman wrote to
complain that Pecharich had pulled hair from her son's leg and told him to put
it on his chest.<BR><BR>She also wrote that she saw Pecharich put his hands
inside a boy's pockets, telling the boy he needed to go to the "butt store" and
to get "more hips."<BR><BR>In 1996, a man told then-Bishop McFarland and Urell
that Pecharich had repeatedly molested him 12 years earlier, on a camping trip,
while skiing, at the rectory and in a Wrightwood cabin, according to a letter
and notes from a meeting between the victim and Urell.<BR><BR>Pecharich, 59,
remains a priest but is barred from ministry. His whereabouts are
unknown.<BR><BR><B>Franklin Buckman<BR><BR></B>In 1984, Buckman resigned as
pastor of one of the largest parishes in the diocese, St. Polycarp's in Stanton.
In a statement to parishioners, he said that "the burden of administration has
become much more a trial to me…. After a period of rest I would hope to minister
in a smaller parish setting."<BR><BR>The Orange Diocese last year revealed that
Buckman had been accused of sexual misconduct. <BR><BR>According to the
documents released Tuesday, Buckman was transferred to a diocese in Baker, Ore.,
which covers the eastern two-thirds of the state, after he was accused of sexual
abuse. <BR><BR>Driscoll had written a glowing letter of
recommendation.<BR><BR>"He will be a blessing to you and your diocese," Driscoll
wrote, "and he is always welcome to 'come home' with us."<BR><BR>In February
1989, a mother of eight asked Driscoll to investigate Buckman's alleged
molestation of her son, while he was still an Orange County priest.<BR><BR>With
the investigation dragging on 15 months later, the mother appealed to Pope John
Paul II.<BR><BR>In a letter composed in Spanish, the mother complained that
Tomas Clavel, the retired archbishop of Panama, had "intimidated" her from
making a police report. Clavel was then working in the Orange Diocese, but has
since died.<BR><BR>"Not to say anything publicly. Everything was hushed up," the
mother wrote. "I am asking you, I am begging you to do justice," she told the
pope. "Please answer me so I will know that there is someone in the world who
cares for the humble people."<BR><BR>Buckman, 67, was removed from ministry in
Orange but is still a priest. Reached by phone Tuesday in Mesa, Ariz., where he
retired in 2002, Buckman said of the sexual abuse allegations, "That's not true,
and I have nothing more to say about it."<BR><BR>He said he retired because "I
was old enough." Asked why he believes he was accused, Buckman said, "I don't
know. I think money."<BR><BR>
<HR width="20%">
<I>Times staff writers Anna Gorman and Larry B. Stammer contributed to this
report.<BR><BR></I>*<BR><BR>(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)<BR><BR>Michael P.
Driscoll<BR><BR>a top aide to two Orange County bishops, Michael P. Driscoll,
above:<BR><BR>• Helped keep several known pedophile priests in
ministry.<BR><BR>• Accepted a convicted sex offender into the
diocese.<BR><BR>• Arranged for a serial pedophile to be transferred to
Tijuana.<BR><BR>Driscoll, now bishop of Boise, issued an apology this month for
his actions.<BR><BR>Los Angeles Times<BR><BR>Alexander Gallardo Los Angeles
Times<BR><BR>*<BR><BR>(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)<BR><BR>Excerpts: secrecy and
outrage<BR><BR>Newly released documents show that officials in the Roman
Catholic Diocese of Orange covered up for some pedophile priests. Excerpts from
the priests' files: <BR><BR><B>Father Eleuterio "Al"
Ramos<BR><BR></B><STRONG>March 27, 1975. An Archdiocese of Los Angeles memo on
Ramos' psychological treatment:</STRONG><STRONG><BR><BR></STRONG>"This care was
suggested by the district attorney as a result of a recent
incident."<BR><BR><STRONG>Undated. Notes from Father Michael Driscoll, then
chancellor of the Diocese of Orange (now bishop of Boise, Idaho), on Ramos'
abuse report.<BR><BR></STRONG>"Obscene words-gestures. Bad judgment-immature
acts. Offered boys drinks (alcoholic). Boys out late at
night."<BR><BR><STRONG>April 15, 1980. Letter from Bishop William R. Johnson to
a parishioner:</STRONG><BR><BR>Ramos "truly is a fine priest, zealous and
generous hearted…. He will be returning to the diocese early next month and we
look forward to having him back with us."<BR><BR><STRONG>1982. Driscoll note on
another Ramos abuse report:<BR><BR></STRONG>"3 mos ago; motel; mag.-homosexual;
this weekend; wrestling … playboy book; hustler; 'men-men'; motel; unbutton
shirt; pull string on pants; one bed in room, stay overnight; went to movie --
drive-in; hold hand; try to touch crotch, wanted <I>out</I> - got out of car,
and went home by 2:00."<BR><BR><STRONG>July 24, 1985. Handwritten note from an
unnamed church official:<BR><BR></STRONG>"Phone call from Al -- wanted to report
that he had 'slipped' and had an incident with a 17 yr. old boy from
parish."<BR><BR><STRONG>July 26, </STRONG><STRONG>1985. Handwritten note from
the same church official:<BR><BR></STRONG>"Al said parents not going legal…. Al
leaving parish (vacation) immediately -- medical doctor prescribes rest as he is
exhausted for at least two weeks."<BR><BR>Two months later, Ramos was
transferred to the Diocese of Tijuana.<BR><BR><STRONG>Nov. 6, 1985. Letter from
Bishop Johnson to Ramos in Tijuana:<BR><BR></STRONG>"I hope you will find your
time in Tijuana a fulfilling time, and even though you are living apart from us,
you still belong to us."<BR><BR><STRONG>April 15, 1991. </STRONG><STRONG>Teacher
at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Santa Ana writes to the mother of an
alleged Ramos victim:<BR><BR></STRONG>"[I am] enraged at the Diocese of Orange
or any diocese or order that refuses to take strong and immediate action when
any [priest] has any of these problems. And how sad it is that it's only with
the bravery and the pain of people like your [son] that will force them to take
action…. We tried our hardest to prevent what happened to boys like [your son],
not knowing we were too late."<BR><BR><B>Father Siegfried
Widera<BR><BR></B><STRONG>Dec. 20, </STRONG><STRONG>1976. Letter from Archbishop
of Milwaukee William E. Cousins to Driscoll:<BR><BR></STRONG>"In his earlier
years there was a moral problem having to do with a boy in school…. More
recently, however, there has been a repetition, and according to our state laws,
further psychiatric treatment is mandated with the strong recommendation that no
immediate assignment be made in the environs of the archdiocese.<BR><BR>"There
would seem no great risk in allowing this man to return to pastoral work, but
there are legal complications at present writing. Incidentally, these legal
technicalities would permit Father's going to another state as long as treatment
is continued."<BR><BR><B>Father Andrew Christian "Chris"
Andersen<BR><BR></B><STRONG>April 29, 1986. Notes from a Huntington Beach police
detective who interviewed Driscoll as part of an investigation into allegations
that Andersen abused three boys in 1985:<BR><BR></STRONG>"He said he couldn't
remember if he destroyed the letter [written in 1983 by the mother of an alleged
victim] or sent it back [to the pastor at the parish].<BR><BR>"I asked him if he
recalled what the letter said. He said … it mentioned something about Father
Chris hugging the boy and making body contact with him. He said he couldn't
remember much more than that. <BR><BR>"I then refreshed Father Driscoll's memory
by stating … Father Chris took [the victim's] legs and placed them on his lap
and began to rub his bare legs and came close to his crotch area. Father
Driscoll said yes, that he recalled that part of the
letter."<BR><BR><STRONG>Sept. 25, 1986. Letter from the mother of an alleged
Andersen victim to Auxiliary Bishop John T. Steinbock (now bishop of
Fresno):<BR><BR></STRONG>"... not even his association with altar boys [was]
curtailed…. We left the church feeling we were the ones being persecuted, not
the guilty one…. Since no one has tried to contact us from our own parish or the
diocese, again showing no compassion or concern, I am writing this letter in
hopes that if this situation ever comes to the attention of the church and/or
diocese again, you will take a more sensitive and humane approach….
"<BR><BR>Source: Diocese of Orange priest personnel files<BR><BR>Los Angeles
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