CALIFORNIA
The Digital Hairshirt
It ain’t over yet for Mike Harris.
A sex-abuse and cover-up lawsuit against former Monsignor Michael Harris, a once-popular and high-profile figure who left the priesthood when Orange County’s clergy scandal erupted a decade ago, is set to go to trial June 18 in Orange County Superior Court.
This is disheartening news. But not as disheartening as this:
In 1994, Harris, citing stress, stepped down as principal of Santa Margarita High School. The Orange County Diocese placed him on administrative leave that year and prohibited him from working as a priest.
Also that year, a psychological report prepared by doctors at the Saint Luke Institute, a church-run facility for troubled clerics, concluded that there was substance to allegations from several of Harris’ accusers. Psychiatrists at Saint Luke also determined that Harris was sexually attracted to adolescent boys, records show.
The question is whether the Diocese knew that Harris had actually molested children. The fact that he was sexually attracted to adolescent boys does not provide enough evidence – at least, criminally – to sustain a determination of such.
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