NEVADA
Reno Gazette-Journal
Martha Bellisle RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 7/30/2005 10:50 pm
Modified: 7/30/2005 10:59 pm
Reno Catholic leader Bishop Phillip Straling, who retired unexpectedly last month, is a key witness in more than 150 lawsuits in Southern California filed against priests accused of molesting children. In some cases, he is accused of negligence for failing to stop the abuse.
And prosecutors last week seized records from Straling’s former diocese in San Bernardino looking for information on the religious leader’s former aide, Jesus Dominguez, who recently disappeared after being charged with 58 counts of sexual assault.
The lawsuits and lawyers say Straling, while a priest in San Diego and bishop of San Bernardino, might have known that the accused priests were having sex with children but did nothing to stop them. Many believe he played a part in shuffling abusive priests to new parishes where they had access to and sometimes continued to molest children.
After moving to Reno in 1995, Straling transferred at least one accused priest, Robert