LOS ANGELES (CA)
CBS LA
May 3, 2019
The California attorney general’s office will review how the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has handled sexual abuse allegations.
In a letter from state Attorney General Xavier Becerra to Archbishop Jose Gomez dated Thursday and obtained by the Los Angeles Times, church officials are asked to preserve an array of documents related to clergy abuse allegations.
It’s unclear whether Becerra’s office is also seeking records from other California dioceses. Officials from the archdiocese and the attorney general’s office could not be reached for comment Thursday night.
“The California Department of Justice is conducting a review of your archdiocese’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations involving children, including whether your archdiocese has adequately reported allegations of sexual misconduct, as required under California’s Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act,” the letter stated, according to the Times.
For nearly two decades, the archdiocese has been roiled by allegations that onetime church leaders mishandled clergy abuse cases, sometimes moving clergy suspected of wrongdoing to other parishes rather than punishing them and informing law enforcement.
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