California to review LA archdiocese’s sex-abuse response

LOS ANGELES (CA)
Associated Press

May 4, 2019

The California attorney general’s office will review how all 12 Roman Catholic dioceses in the state handled allegations of child sexual abuse that have resulted in payouts of hundreds of millions of dollars to victims.

Attorney General Xavier Becerra sent out letters to the dioceses on Thursday, Sacramento diocese spokesman Kevin Eckery told the Sacramento Bee.

The letters ask dioceses to voluntarily preserve documents relating to abuse allegations involving clergy, staffers and volunteers that were received from 1996 to the present. The attorney general’s office will look into whether the archdiocese properly reported the allegations under California law.

The request could be the first step toward a full investigation of California dioceses, which serve an estimated 10 million worshippers.

“We intend to comply with both the spirit and the letter of what they’re asking for,” Eckery said.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced it will cooperate.

Both dioceses said they have taken steps to ensure that suspected sex abuse is reported to law enforcement by priests, teachers and other employees.

“Even those who are not mandated reporters are reminded of the moral obligation to be aware for the signs of child abuse and to report it when there is a reasonable suspicion an abuse has occurred,” Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto said in a statement Friday.

“The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is committed to transparency and has established reporting and prevention policies and programs to protect minors and support victim-survivors in our parishes, schools and ministries,” the archdiocese said in a statement.

Last November, Becerra asked victims of clerical sex abuse to submit complaints to his office.

Many dioceses around the country have been hit with lawsuits and accusations that sex abuse by clergy and others was ignored or swept under the rug.

The Los Angeles archdiocese, which covers Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, has paid a record $740 million in settlements to victims. In April, the archdiocese announced an $8 million settlement for a former Catholic school student who was molested by a coach.

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