ORANGE COUNTY (CA)
Orange County Register
December 6, 2018
By Scott Schwebke
A Los Angeles law firm on Thursday released the names of 72 priests it claims are associated with the Catholic Diocese of Orange and are suspected of sexual assault.
The priests’ identities, detailed in a 60-page report, have never been disclosed by the diocese and are kept hidden from public view in a “secret archive” maintained by the church, Mike Reck, an attorney for Jeff Anderson & Associates, said during a news conference.
“We are doing this because the Diocese of Orange has not,” Reck said. “It’s important because the release of these identities sends a message to survivors of abuse that they are not alone, that this matters and that healing can begin.”
On the same day, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles released an updated list of 54 priests accused of sexual abuse of minors since 2008, with the archbishop issuing a public apology to victims of clergy sex abuse.
The Register is not releasing the names of the priests on this list because they have not been criminally charged.
Although the Diocese of Orange has released two lists, one in 2004 naming 16 priests and another in 2016 naming 14 priests suspected of sexual abuse, those disclosures are contradictory, incomplete and inadequate, Reck insisted.
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