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	Report: Cardinal Accounts of Priest's Role in Sex Scandal Differ Associated Press, carried in Union-Tribune March 20, 2007 http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20070320-0554-ca-churchabuse.html Los Angeles — Cardinal Roger Mahony gave the Vatican a graver version of a priest's role in a sexual abuse scandal than he provided his parishioners, according to court documents filed by four people who are suing the Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles for allegedly failing to protect them from pedophile priests. Lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that the documents filed last week show Mahony and other officials at the Los Angeles Archdiocese misrepresented the breadth and seriousness of the priest abuse reports they received in the years before they moved to fully address the molestation problem. The papers quote a letter Mahony wrote to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before Ratzinger became pope in April 2005. In the letter, Mahony said Father Lynn Caffoe had videotaped "partially naked" boys in a state of arousal. He said the tape was "objective verification that criminal behavior did occur," the Los Angeles Times reported. At least six months later, in an October 2005 report to parishioners, Mahony said a videotape had been discovered in 1992 in Caffoe's bedroom depicting "improper behavior" with high school boys. The cardinal said the boys were "fully clothed" and there was no sexual activity. Caffoe, 61, has been accused of molesting multiple minors between 1975 and 1994. He was suspended from the church, and has not been charged with a crime. J. Michael Hennigan, Mahony's lawyer, said he sees no contradiction between Mahony's public statements and the file contents. He said at the time the cardinal spoke out, the archdiocese was under court order not to reveal the contents of personnel files. Hennigan said two judges had reviewed the material and considered Mahony's summary to be adequate. Hennigan said he does not think Mahony ever saw the videotape, which is not in the church files. Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney, said Mahony had not reported Caffoe's alleged crime to prosecutors. Whether the videotape could serve as the basis for prosecution depends on when it was made, who was in it and whether they would testify, Gibbons said. The suit filed by the four Caffoe accusers is one of more than 500 claims filed against the archdiocese over the decades-long clergy abuse scandal. In December, the archdiocese paid $60 million to settle with 45 victims. The archdiocese has fought to keep its records from plaintiffs' attorneys and prosecutors, citing the church's constitutional rights and other privileges.
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