Officials at St. Mary School in Aliso Viejo Say They Were Unaware of Ex-Mater Dei Vice Principal's Involvement in Two Cases
By Gwendolyn Driscoll
Orange County Register [California]
February 24, 2007
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1589840.php
Aliso Viejo – A Santa Ana man named in a student sexual-abuse lawsuit that resulted in a $1.4 million settlement by the Catholic Diocese of Orange is on a panel that selects children who exemplify "the foundation principles of leadership" for a local school's awards ceremony.
John Merino, a former vice principal at Mater Dei High School, is on a judging panel at St. Mary and All Angels school in Aliso Viejo that evaluated pupils for the school's annual Legacy Awards.
Two awards, including one for the son of an Aliso Viejo City Council member, will be presented March 3 at the non-denominational Christian school's annual fundraising gala at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine.
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| John Merino |
Merino and school officials said that judges interviewed pupils in an off-campus location and that no judge was left alone with pupils.
"I was part of a panel," said Merino, adding there was "none whatsoever" reason for parents to be concerned.
"The diocese investigated the allegations against me and found that they were not credible," Merino said.
The terms of the diocese's settlement in Merino's case admit no guilt, and Merino was not convicted of a crime. Lawyers for the diocese have said they believed some cases were not well-founded.
"O.J. Simpson was found not guilty, but you're certainly not going to allow him to wander around your school," said Joelle Casteix, southwest regional director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. "With a settled and active sexual-abuse case – I'd have a fit if I were a parent."
Casteix said she and other victims intended to picket St. Mary school on Tuesday in protest of Merino's participation in the judging panel.
Merino, now retired, along with former Mater Dei Principal Michael Harris, were identified in a lawsuit alleging the sexual abuse of a schoolboy, according to court documents. Both men were part of a $100 million settlement paid by the Diocese of Orange to settle abuse claims made by 94 plaintiffs in 2005.
A parallel lawsuit involving Merino and the Diocese of Los Angeles is still pending.
Although Bishop Tod Brown agreed that the church would not oppose the release of personnel files of those named in the settlement, Merino has petitioned to keep his personnel records private.
Asked whether attempts had been made to inform other schools of past employees involved in sex-abuse settlements, the Diocese of Orange had no comment.
Officials at St. Mary, an 800-student kindergarten-through-eighth grade private school, said they were not aware of Merino's role in the diocese settlement.
Shawna Rhebergen, the school's director of communications, said Merino was chosen to participate in the judging panel because of a family connection with St. Mary principal Diane DiCorpo-Fuller.
"(Merino) is a fraternity adviser. (DiCorpo-Fuller's) son goes to that fraternity," Rhebergen said.
The fraternity is Sigma Phi at Cal State Long Beach, according to Merino.
"That they would allow … a man with an active lawsuit where he's been accused of child sexual abuse … to serve in such a capacity to children is just startling," says Tim Hale, the lawyer who represents the plaintiff in both the Orange County and Los Angeles suits against Merino.
Judges for St. Mary interviewed 21 student applicants for this year's Legacy Awards, which recognize a student "who exemplifies the foundation principles of leadership," according to the school's Web site.
Contact the writer: 714-704-3705 or gdriscoll@ocregister.com
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