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72 Diocese of Orange Priests Accused of Sexual Misconduct in Law Firm Report

By Scott Schwebke
Orange County Register
December 6, 2018

https://www.whittierdailynews.com/2018/12/06/72-archdiocese-of-orange-priests-accused-of-alleged-sexual-misconduct-in-new-report/

Attorney Mike Reck holds a photo of Father Thomas Mohan during a press conderance in Anaheim, CA on Thursday, December 6, 2018. Reck is representing Tom Emens, right, in a lawsuit against the Diocese of Orange alleging sexual abuse by Mohan. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A Los Angeles law firm on Thursday released the names of 72 priests it claims are associated with the Catholic Diocese of Orange and are suspected of sexual assault.

The priests’ identities, detailed in a 60-page report, have never been disclosed by the diocese and are kept hidden from public view in a “secret archive” maintained by the church, Mike Reck, an attorney for Jeff Anderson & Associates, said during a news conference.

“We are doing this because the Diocese of Orange has not,” Reck said. “It’s important because the release of these identities sends a message to survivors of abuse that they are not alone, that this matters and that healing can begin.”

On the same day, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles released an updated list of 54 priests accused of sexual abuse of minors since 2008, with the archbishop issuing a public apology to victims of clergy sex abuse.

The Register is not releasing the names of the priests on this list because they have not been criminally charged.

Although the Diocese of Orange has released two lists, one in 2004 naming 16 priests and another in 2016 naming 14 priests suspected of sexual abuse, those disclosures are contradictory, incomplete and inadequate, Reck insisted.

“The Diocese of Orange and its bishop have spoken about transparency and have spoken about trustworthiness and, frankly, they’ve failed,” he said. “We implore the diocese to do better and to do more.”

Information about the priests included in the report has been complied through months of research using “publicly available information” Reck said.

“This is information from lawsuits, press statements, statements from this diocese and statements of other dioceses where these alleged perpetrators were accepted from and sent to,” he added.

Although some of the priests on the list may be dead or may have been criminally prosecuted or sued, the whereabouts of more than half of those named remain unknown, Reck said.

The Diocese of Orange said it is examining its files of priests “credibly accused” of sexually abusing minors and will update its list as warranted.

“The diocese takes all accusations of misconduct and abuse extraordinarily seriously,” Tracey B. Kincaid, a spokeswoman for the diocese, said in a statement.

“We always cooperate fully with law enforcement and, since 2002, we empowered an independent oversight review board to investigate any and all claims of childhood and adult sexual abuse. This board is made up primarily of professional lay people, including a physician, lawyers, a retired judge, former FBI personnel.”

However, the report released by Reck contends the diocese continues to hide information about predatory priests.

“During the 1980s and 1990s, occasional bits of information about clerical abuse would surface, but the church’s strict policy of secrecy kept most of the information and full extent of the problem hidden form the public,” the report says. “This has continued despite mandated reporting laws.”

In 2003, the California Legislature opened a one-year window for past child sex abuse victims to file lawsuits, subjecting the diocese to additional scrutiny and allowing attorneys to obtain secret church records using subpoenas and court orders, according to the report.

Thomas Emens, 50, filed a lawsuit in October against the California Catholic Conference, the Diocese of Orange and other dioceses alleging he was abused for two years starting in 1978, when he was 10 years old, by Monsignor Thomas Joseph Mohan.

Mohan, who is deceased, arrived at St. Anthony Claret Catholic Church in Anaheim in the early 1970s from Chicago, according to the lawsuit.

Emens, a former Anaheim resident who now lives in Camarillo, recalled during the news conference how he was abused while spending time at Mohan’s home. “I’ve lived with this my whole life,” he said. “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about it.”

The aim of Emens’ so-called nuisance suit is to force the church to provide details of his sexual abuse and, ultimately, release the names of all priests accused of molestation, Reck said.

Mohan retired in 1973 from the Archdiocese of Chicago and died in 2002 at age 92. After retirement, he relocated to Orange County to live with his sister and was never incardinated in the Diocese of Orange, Kincaid said.

Joelle Casteix, 48, who heads the advocacy organization “STOP: Survivors Taking on Predators,” said during the news conference she was sexually abused and impregnated by a lay teacher while attending Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana.

She alleges diocese officials knew she had been abused but covered it up, and that an attorney for the church lied, telling her there was no evidence of her abuse.

“In fact, they had a complete file on me and what happened to me,” Casteix said. “That file included the signed confession of the man who sexually abused me.”

Manny Vega, 50, a former Los Angeles Police Department officer, said a priest sexually abused him from the ages of 10 to 15 while he served as an altar boy at a church in Oxnard. The alleged abuser is currently hiding out in Mexico, he added.

“If anybody was sentenced to a life of prayer and penance, it was me,” he said. “It wasn’t the damned priest, it was me. I pray and I suffer through this on a daily basis.”

 

 

 

 

 




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