CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times
By Jean Guccione, Times Staff Writer
Michael Stephen Wempe wept Tuesday as a Houston man testified that the former priest used religion class to teach him about masturbation, then encouraged him to practice when they were alone.
The testimony came during the second day of Wempe's trial on charges of abusing a boy in the early 1990s. Wempe, through his attorney, has admitted to molesting 13 boys decades ago, but denies the more recent abuse allegations.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Curtis R. Rappe is allowing testimony about past molestations to bolster prosecutors' contention that Wempe was a practiced abuser who used the same script to exploit children for decades.
The Houston man attended Paraclete High School in Lancaster, where Wempe taught religion and coached golf. When Deputy Dist. Atty. Todd Hicks asked the man if he was a good golfer, Wempe, sitting at the defense table, nodded yes.