New Challenge for the Cardinal Court Says Alleged Victims of Molestation May Seek Punitive Damages from the Los Angeles Archdiocese, California Catholic Daily [Los Angeles], May 25, 2007

New Challenge for the Cardinal
Court Says Alleged Victims of Molestation May Seek Punitive Damages from the Los Angeles Archdiocese

California Catholic Daily [Los Angeles]
May 25, 2007

http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=1e83a371-f9d0-4752-9250-42157ba095a0

Four alleged victims of defrocked priest, Lynn Caffoe, may seek punitive damages from the Los Angeles archdiocese, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Haley Fromholz ruled Wednesday.

Punitive damages are awarded to plaintiffs over and above compensatory damages to punish the convicted party for actions done out of malice or fraud. In the case of Lynn Caffoe, accused of molesting several youths between 1975 and 1994, four alleged victims have accused the archdiocese of "oppression, fraud and malice" by disregarding abuse allegations against the priest, said the May 24 Los Angeles Times.

Fromholz's reason for allowing plaintiffs to seek punitive damages from the archdiocese is Cardinal Roger Mahony's alleged misrepresentation of the contents of a video found in Caffoe's bedroom in 1992 but since lost. In April 2005, in a letter to Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, then head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Mahony referred to the video, saying it showed "partially naked" sexually aroused boys and presented "objective verification that criminal behavior did occur." The letter, part of Caffoe's personnel file which the archdiocese turned over to prosecutors and plaintiffs, was written to demonstrate why Caffoe should be laicized.

But in the archdiocese's "Addendum" to the 2004 "Report to the People of God" (released in late 2005), a summary for Caffoe says, "two priests at St. Bede's report finding an undated videotape in Fr. Caffoe's room of improper behavior with several high school boys. No sexual activity. The boys are fully clothed."

The archdiocese has explained the seemingly divergent accounts. Since the boys in the tape had pants on but no shirts, and had not "exposed themselves in any way," the "Addendum" said they were "fully clothed," said a March 20, 2007 archdiocesan statement. The videotape's contents, however, were described "more aggressively" in the letter to Ratzinger, since its purpose was to get Caffoe defrocked. In the letter, "removed shirts were described as 'partial nudity,' and suggestive sexual comments were described as 'criminal' (a 'delict') in the context of Church law," said the archdiocesan statement.

In support of his decision to allow plaintiffs to seek punitive damages, Fromholz cited complaints of priests about Caffoe and as well as reports of misconduct from parents and school officials. Evidence from plaintiffs' lawyers presented so far, said Fromholz, "establishes a substantial probability that plaintiffs will prevail on the punitive damages claim."

The archdiocese did not challenge the plaintiffs' motion for punitive damages. And, archdiocesan spokesman Tod Tamberg told the Times that Fromholz's decision "neither decides nor influences the ultimate issue of whether such damages are appropriate in these cases."

If other plaintiffs are permitted to seek punitive as well as compensatory damages, the archdiocese could face substantial monetary pay outs to victims. In December, the archdiocese paid more than $60 million to settle cases with 45 alleged victims. Over 500 people have claimed they were molested by archdiocesan priests, and of these, some have alleged that church officials knew about the abuse and did nothing about it.