LOS ANGELES (CA)
LA Daily News
By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer
dailynews.com
Posted: 02/09/2013
Half of them are dead, a handful are in prison, a few have continued in the ministry.
And the rest of the former priests — those accused in Los Angeles Archdiocese files of sexually abusing altar boys, parishioners’ kids and schoolchildren — could be just about anywhere.
Because of efforts by Cardinal Roger Mahony and his top aides to shield scores of suspect priests from prosecution, many have been free to leave the church and start new lives without anyone else knowing about their past.
Although the priests are aging — the youngest is nearing 60, and most are in their 70s and 80s — victims and their advocates worry about the inability of the system to track these alleged abusers and to notify the public.
“The frightening prospect is that the gentle man next door, who is so friendly and engaging with children, might well turn out to be somebody who has a sickness and disease that makes him a danger to children,” said attorney Raymond Boucher, who helped secure a $660 million settlement in 2007 against the archdiocese in the sex-abuse scandal.
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