CALIFORNIA
Sonoma News
By David Bolling INDEX-TRIBUNE EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
Feb 14, 2013
Father John Crews, the longtime executive director of Hanna Boys Center, resigned late last week following the allegation of a single act of sexual misconduct dating back to the early 1970s.
According to Bishop Robert F. Vasa, of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, the allegation “came to our attention on Tuesday (Feb. 12) and was immediately reported to the police.”
Vasa, who said he had been out of town when the allegations surfaced, added the diocese then learned the matter had already been reported to the police. “A mandatory reporter,” he said, “reported it to police, and then to us.”
But according to Sebastopol Police Chief Jeffrey Weaver, his office received a telephone report from a private citizen, not a mandatory reporter such as a priest or therapist, on Friday, Feb. 1 stating that someone had been victimized by a priest at a church in Sebastopol more than 40 years ago.
“We were told the victim was not accessible,” said Weaver. Asked if that meant the victim was dead, Weaver said he did not know.
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