He May Agree to Pay Millions to Settle Sex-Abuse Cases, but Oc Bishop Brown Will Still Win
By Gustavo Arellano
Orange County Weekly
June 17, 2004
[See also other articles by Gustavo Arellano.]
As the Weekly goes to press, Catholic Church officials are on the verge of resolving about 100 lawsuits filed against the Diocese of Orange, each alleging that local priests systematically molested children over the course of its 29-year history.
The final price tag will reportedly be the second-largest sex-abuse settlement involving the American Catholic Church. Only the $85 million Boston Archdiocese decision was larger; that decision came last year and involved more than 550 sex-abuse victims.
But never mind the dollars: the big winner is Orange Diocese Bishop Tod D. Brown.
Brown first announced his willingness to settle in a June 13 letter to Orange County's 1.1 million Catholics. But sources say Brown is adamant he will not release personnel records.
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| Photo by James Bunoan |
Plaintiffs' lawyers have for 18 months insisted the release of the records—documenting each cleric's life, from ordination until death—was their real goal in litigating. The records, they said, would prove that Orange diocesan officials knowingly shielded pedophilic priests from criminal prosecution.
But at press time, sources said, a majority of plaintiffs' attorneys appeared ready to sell out for cash.
"Any survivor would know and understand that the attorneys would do the best in their interest," said a plaintiff who requested anonymity. "But not releasing the documents is a victory for the diocese. A lot of us are sad and tired, but we want the documents out."
If true, this development represents a disappointing, disheartening end to a case that once had the potential of becoming a historic breakthrough in the sex-abuse scandal that's wrecking Catholic America.
In January 2003, attorneys for hundreds of alleged victims agreed to enter closed-door mediation talks with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Orange Diocese in order to avert an ugly public battle. As part of the process, church leaders allowed attorneys to view the church's personnel files on priests.
Those who have seen the documents tell the Weekly they're damning. But a Los Angeles Superior Court judge barred attorneys from publicly discussing their findings.
Orange Diocese sex-abuse victims pushed for full release of these files, hoping to provoke the same radical reforms that occurred when the Boston Archdiocese made public thousands of pages of documents two years ago. Subsequent revelations led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law, the arrests or defrocking of dozens of priests suspected of molesting children, and inspired sex-abuse victims across the country to publicly disclose their cases.
Perhaps fearing a similar uproar, Brown has kept all diocesan documents out of public view. And despite his claims of a newfangled diocesan transparency in matters of sex abuse, he's refused to include the documents as part of any settlement and ignored repeated requests by the media to make them available.
Individuals involved in the mediation process tell the Weekly that some plaintiffs' attorneys, eager to wrap up their cases, are beginning to see it Brown's way.
Some plaintiffs who spoke with the Weekly have seen documents pertaining to their cases—and they want them made public. "Your everyday Catholic needs to know that though the faith is strong, the hierarchy is rotten," says one. "That's what [the personnel files] show."
There remains a glimmer of hope. Some plaintiffs, such as 33-year-old Corona del Mar resident Joelle Casteix, say they will refuse any settlement offer that doesn't include the release of personnel files and sue the diocese on their own. That could be costly and might take years, but it would also represent another opportunity to battle for the documents.
That, not money, Casteix says, is the only reason anyone should sue the Catholic Church.
"I once attended a workshop that had a keynote speaker who settled his sex-abuse case with the Catholic Church about 15 years ago," said Casteix, who claims a choir teacher repeatedly molested her while she was a student at Santa Ana's Mater Dei High during the late 1980s. "Although he won a sizable sum, he ultimately regretted his decision to settle because the church imposed a gag order on him and his case. I would never do that. If I was to settle without the release of documents, it would feel like dirty money."
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