December 11, 2004

LA archdiocese blocked from placing accused clergy's information online

LOS ANGELES (CA)
North County Times

By: Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- A judge temporarily blocked the Archdiocese of Los Angeles from posting information on the Internet on priests accused of sexual abuse. Superior Court Judge Haley J. Fromholz issued the emergency order Thursday during a closed door hearing after a lawyer representing about 25 priests argued the move would violate his clients' privacy.

The attorney, Donald Steier, declined to comment because of confidentiality required as part of ongoing mediation.

A hearing was scheduled for Dec. 28 to determine whether the ban would become permanent.


The files, known as "proffers," contain summaries from church records kept on about 200 accused priests that were prepared by the archdiocese for lawyers representing alleged victims, said attorney J. Michael Hennigan, lead counsel for the archdiocese.

Church officials and plaintiffs' attorneys agreed two years ago to a process in which information about accused priests could be shared through proffers instead of church personnel records.

Posted by kshaw at December 11, 2004 12:08 AM