CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times
[the files – Law Offices of Raymond Boucher]
By Barbara Jones and Susan Abram, Staff Writers
Five Catholic religious orders released the confidential personnel files of a dozen priests and nuns accused of sexually abusing children for decades as they worked as trusted religious leaders in the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
The 1,700 pages pertain to the 10 priests and two nuns who were accused in civil suits of molesting children while working in the nation’s largest archdiocese. They were released under the terms of a 2007 settlement that paid $660 million to more than 500 alleged victims.
The archdiocese itself released thousands of pages in January — detailed files showing how now-retired Archbishop Roger Mahony and other church leaders handled molestation complaints by shielding suspect priests from law enforcement.
In contrast, most of the files released by the religious orders deal more with mundane personnel matters, and some don’t even mention sexual abuse at all.
The fact that the files don’t reflect the misconduct alleged in civil lawsuits doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, said victims’ attorney Ray Boucher, who posted the documents on his firm’s website.
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