MODESTO (CA)
Modesto Bee
By ROGER W. HOSKINS
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: March 27, 2005, 04:12:23 AM PST
Members of St. Joseph's Catholic Church hailed a jury's verdict that cleared a priest of sexual battery.
However, the jury awarded the family $20,000 for emotional distress over the way the Rev. Francis Arakal and the Rev. Joseph Illo responded to a child's complaint about the incident.
And a spokeswoman for the girls who sued worried that the case will keep people from coming forward to confront abusers.
Shannon Munoz, a 32-year-old mother of three, was waiting for St. Joseph's Easter Vigil Saturday. She found fault with the jury's mixed reasoning.
"I don't think the family should have been awarded anything. I don't think the parish is at fault," she said.
She expressed complete confidence in both priests. "If I didn't have confidence in them, I wouldn't be here now and every Wednesday and Sunday."
Posted by kshaw at March 27, 2005 08:12 AM