[See also other articles by Gustavo Arellano.]

What is it with the Orange County Board of Supervisors and their love of pedophile apologists? In 2006, Third District Supe Bill Campbell tried placing Monsignor John Urell, the right-hand man of Diocese of Orange bishops for a good decade of their sex-abuse scandal, on the county's human relations commission until molestation victims raised rightful holy hell. Now, an addendum to this Monday's BoS agenda currently lists Monsignor Lawrence Baird as giving the invocation at 9:30 in the morn.


Baird is a notorious figure in the Orange diocese's sex-abuse scandal. As its longtime spokeshole, it was his job to deny any scandal to reporters and spin, spin, spin when confronted with reality. Most notoriously, he called Michael Harris, the former principal of Mater Dei and Santa Margarita high schools, an "icon to the priesthood" to reporters after Harris had quit the latter job in 1994 even though the Orange diocese already knew at that point that Harris—who was battling sex-abuse lawsuits— liked teenage boys.

But what has guaranteed Baird a hot spot in the afterlife is his treatment of sex-abuse victims. When one of the innocents savaged by Eleuterio Ramos—the worst pedophile in the history of Orange County—tried calling the Orange diocese for help in paying for his therapy sessions, Baird basically told him to fuck off. In a 1993 Orange County Register story, he accused Mary Grant—who had won a $25,000 settlement against the Orange diocese because John Lenihan had admitted to molesting her when she was a teen in the 1970s—of "sensationalism" for daring to make her story public. And Baird sued another Lenihan victim, Lori Haigh, in 2002 for defamation after she accused him of making sexual advances toward her 20 years earlier. Not only did a judge dismiss the lawsuit, but he ordered Baird to pay Haigh's court fees, which years later remained unpaid.

I guess The Liberal OC publisher Chris Prevatt is right—the Board of Supervisors is composed solely of pendejos.

*Pictured: Supervisor Pat Bates. We never cover her, so might as well include her name in the mix, que no? My knowledge of her is as blurry as the included photo.

**And, by Monday, I mean Tuesday; gracias to Prevatt for the kind correction. E-mail: GARELLANO@OCWEEKLY.COM