LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
January 31, 2019
By Laura Newberry
A Minnesota-based law firm has released a report chronicling decades of alleged sexual abuse by clergy within the San Bernardino Diocese.
In October, the diocese released its own list of 34 priests who had been accused of abusing children. In the new report, released Thursday, Jeff Anderson & Associates of Minnesota contend that the diocese has not been fully transparent about the extent of sexual misconduct within the district.
“San Bernardino has disclosed in the past a certain number of offenders,” said Mike Reck, an attorney for the firm. “We know and believe and can prove that their list is incomplete.”
The report names more than 80 clergy members accused of sexual misconduct dating back to the 1950s. Most of the claims brought against these clerics have been settled or have not been fully evaluated in court, according to the report.
The firm notes that when the diocese released its list, it did not include accused priests who worked within the existing geographical bounds of the San Bernardino Diocese before it was formed in 1978. Before that year, the Diocese of San Diego represented parishes in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
The names of accused clergy obtained by the firm were found in lawsuits, newspaper articles and reports from other dioceses, according to Reck. The firm also included priests who were accused of sexual misconduct elsewhere but worked in the San Bernardino Diocese at some point.
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