LOS ANGELES (CA)
Mercury News
By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press
LOS ANGELES—The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles could turn over two dozen priest personnel files to a plaintiff’s attorney within days after the California Supreme Court declined to review a lower court ruling ordering the release.
The lower court ruling applies to only 25 of the priests who were included in a record-breaking, $660 million settlement between more than 500 alleged sex abuse victims and the archdiocese in 2007. The papers are also subject to a protective order, meaning they will only be turned over to the plaintiff’s attorney, and not the public.
The 2007 settlement included a commitment to release the files of all molesting priests, but victims are still waiting five years later and accuse the archdiocese of stalling by tying up the documents in a legal battle.
A number of priests have filed individual objections to the release of their confidential files, which could include medical and psychological information, internal correspondence, police reports and other evidence showing what church leaders knew about molesting priests and when they knew it.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.