Lawsuits allege sexual abuse and cover-ups at Catholic high schools in Santa Ana and La Cañada Flintridge

By Sean Emery, Scott Schwebke
Orange County Register
December 27, 2019

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On the eve of a new law that gives victims of childhood sexual assaults more time to come forward, lawsuits have been filed over alleged abuse and cover-ups at Catholic high schools in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

Attorneys on Friday announced a pair of lawsuits filed by two former students of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana and one by a former student of St. Francis High School in La Cañada Flintridge. During a pair of news conferences, the lawyers alleged that systematic sexual assault occurred at both campuses and was covered up by school and diocese leaders.

Assembly Bill 218 affects those abused in many walks of life, from Olympics swimmers and schoolchildren to Boy Scouts and young Catholic churchgoers.

The legislation, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October and taking effect Jan. 1, extends the time that victims of childhood sexual abuse can file lawsuits. It gives those for whom the statute of limitations had run out a window of three years to bring claims that would have otherwise been barred.

“To the offenders both past and present, and to all those who have made the reckless choices to protect offenders past and present, be on notice that the survivors are coming, and it is time for their voice and truth,” said Jeff Anderson, an attorney whose firm is representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuits filed this week. “You can no longer hide, because the law will not protect you anymore.”

The Catholic Church sex abuse scandal exposed by the Boston Globe in 2002 reignited in September 2018, when a Pennsylvania grand jury reported more than 300 priests had molested at least 1,000 children over a 70-year period, and that there likely were thousands more victims.

The claims against Mater Dei

During a news conference in Orange on Friday, Nicole Bonilla said she was abused by Bernie Balsis, a former campus counselor, at the age of 15 while she was attending Mater Dei in the mid 1990s. The Southern California News Group generally does not use the names of alleged sexual assault victims, but Bonilla an educator and mother of two, said she chose to make her identity public to empower other victims.

“When this happened to me I was a child trusting in the adults who were caring for me,” Bonilla said. “I thought they were going to help me and make it better… I don’t want anything to happen to my students and my own children.”

The second plaintiff to file a lawsuit against the Diocese of Orange and Mater Dei this week alleges that he was sexually assaulted in the mid-’80’s by former Monsignor Michael Harris, a longtime principal and Mater Dei and later Santa Margarita Catholic High School, who left the priesthood when the local clergy scandal erupted nearly two decades ago.

Attorneys with Anderson & Associates, which specializes in representing abuse survivors, said the alleged assaults could not have happened without repeated cover-ups by campus and diocese officials. Bonilla said she met with school administrators while she was a student and provided them a statement they recorded, but neither her parents nor police were notified.

“That is the type of behavior that has been used time and time again by this diocese, by those officials, and now survivors have a really brave new bright day, Reck said. “They are able to say, through lawsuits, this happened, it was wrong and it is not my fault.”

Harris has previously denied accusations of sexual assault and has never been charged criminally. The Los Angeles and Orange dioceses have reached several agreements with Harris’ accusers over the years, including a landmark $5.2 million settlement in 2001 and a $2 million settlement on the eve of a civil trial in 2012.

As of Friday, the Diocese of Orange had not been served with any current lawsuits alleging sex abuse by priests, spokeswoman Tracey B. Kincaid said.

“The diocese is resolute that it will embrace and give voice to past victims of abuse, irrespective of the dates of abuse, some decades ago,” she said. “We take all and any allegations of abuse seriously. We do not comment on any pending litigation.”

Kincaid also noted the diocese was the first in California to voluntarily release the names of priests who have been credibly accused of abuse and misconduct. There are currently 18 names on the list.

“In the Diocese of Orange, the majority of abuse cases were settled in early 2005 for $100 million, she added. “Since then, due to an extensive culture change in the Diocese of Orange, accusations against priests said to have abused minors are very few.”

The St. Francis claim

During a news conference Friday in Los Angeles, the attorney for the former student from St. Francis said his client had been abused by the Rev. Christopher Kearney of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, who was stationed at the campus from 1970 to 1995.

The attorney alleged that Kearney “systematically sexually assaulted” the former student, who was also an altar server and parishioner, “under the auspices of disciplinary ‘wrestling.’”

“Seeing (Kearney) as a trustworthy mentor, plaintiff was conditioned to comply with (Kearney’s) direction and to respect him as a person and authority in spiritual ethical and educational matters,” the suit states.

Kearney was grooming Doe, and his actions culminated in his “repeated sexual abuse of plaintiff,” the suit alleges.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles said in a statement Friday it had not received the lawsuit. It noted that Kearney is not a priest of the archdiocese but is a priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an independent religious order that runs St. Francis High School.

“The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is committed to transparency and has established reporting and prevention policies and programs to protect minors and support victim-survivors in our parishes, schools and ministries,” the statement says.

The archdiocese was one of the first in the nation to publish a comprehensive report in 2004 listing accused clergy both living and deceased, and released clergy files as part of a 2007 global settlement.

“The archdiocese has already cooperated with two state and one federal investigation and continues to fully cooperate with all civil authorities,” the statement says. “Allegations of abuse involving minors whether by a member of the clergy or a layperson are reported to law enforcement, public announcements are made at the places where the person has served, and if found credible the person is permanently removed from any capacity according to the archdiocese’s zero tolerance policy.”

A compensation program

In May, six Catholic dioceses in California, including those in San Bernardino, Orange, and Los Angeles counties, formed a compensation program for victims of clergy sexual abuse that allows them to settle claims privately, outside the courts.

The voluntary program is available to any person who has been sexually abused as a minor by priests from the dioceses of San Bernardino, Orange, Los Angeles, Fresno, Sacramento and San Diego.

As an alternative to litigation, victim-survivors can choose to meet with two mediators, in private and without an attorney if preferred, to potentially settle their claims.

The compensation program is being  spearheaded by nationally known mediators Kenneth Feinberg and Camille Biros, who determined financial compensation for those affected by  the 9/11 attacks, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the Sandy Hook massacre.

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a non-profit support group, has praised AB 218 while warning victims to consider their options before accepting compensation from the dioceses.

“We believe that the best way to expose wrongdoing and enforce accountability is for crimes to be made public and for punishment and compensation to be meted out by courts, not the institutions that allowed the wrongdoing to happen in the first place” SNAP said in a statement. “Survivors deserve a chance to have their day in court and shed light on their abuse, and that can only happen when statutes of limitations are reformed, civil windows are opened, and bishops are held accountable in courts of law.”

Attorneys with Anderson & Associates have indicated they plan to file at least one more similar lawsuit in Riverside County early next week.

City News Service contributed to this report.