CALIFORNIA
Metropolitian News-Enterprise
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The Sixth District Court of Appeal has affirmed an order that confidential discovery responses by the Roman Catholic Diocese in Monterey, in an action by a man who was a minor when he was allegedly sexually abused by a priest in 2004 and 2005, be turned over to a local newspaper.
The opinion was handed down Friday and was not certified for publication. Justice Franklin D. Elia authored it.
The Diocese had obtained a protective order in 2011 when it was sued by “John RJ Doe” in connection with the purported abuse of him by then-Father Edward Fitz‑Henry. The order said:
“Until further notice, no records produced in discovery shall be disseminated or their contents disclosed to third persons prior to trial or adjudication on the merits.”
According to news reports at the time, an investigation commissioned by the Diocese did not bear out allegations by Doe, but did find that there was credible evidence of sexual abuse by Fitz‑Henry of a youth 20 years earlier.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.