LOS ANGELES (CA)
National Catholic Reporter
October 3, 2018
By Heather Adams
Tom Emens, Jeff Anderson & Associates sues for cover-up of child sex abuse
A lawsuit against the California bishops and 11 dioceses in California, including the archdioceses of Los Angeles and San Francisco, for covering up child sexual abuse was filed Oct. 2 by survivor Tom Emens and Jeff Anderson & Associates.
Emens isn’t filing the lawsuit for money. He’s requesting the release of the names and documented histories on all clerical offenders in each diocese.
“I just want the truth. The truth is far more valuable,” Emens said. “I’m just one person. There are thousands of other victims out there.”
Jeff Anderson & Associates, a Minnesota-based law firm with a long history of suing the Catholic Church, also released a 120-page report on clerical sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, containing information on more than 300 clerical offenders and allegations that the archdiocese allowed more than 35 perpetrators to flee the jurisdiction after reports of abuse arose.
“There is a danger that he and we feel compelled to expose,” Jeff Anderson said. “And that begins today with this lawsuit that is now filed in Los Angeles.”
The report’s over 300 names, Emens said, is not complete. The list contains names collected from lawsuit records and other public records. But his alleged abuser, Msgr. Thomas Joseph Mohan, isn’t on that list.
“I don’t know how many more victims are out there,” he said. “Moving forward we have to protect the kids.”
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