BishopAccountability.org
	Diocese of Orange Sued in Abuse Case Woman Alleges Sexual Abuse by Former Choir Director and Conspiracy Within the Church to Protect Pedophiles By Kimberly Edds The Orange County Register [California] July 12, 2007 http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1762077.php The Catholic Diocese of Orange orchestrated a "conspiracy of silence" to protect pedophiles within the church, according to a civil lawsuit filed Monday by a former youth choir member who claims she was sexually abused by the former music director of St. Timothy Roman Catholic Church. Albert Lee Schildknecht, 56, of Laguna Niguel, was arrested by Costa Mesa detectives June 29 on suspicion of molesting the woman when she was a teenager more than a decade ago. Authorities began investigating Schildknecht in May after a 28-year-old woman complained to the Orange County Sheriff's Department that her former choir director forced her to have a sexual relationship with him when she was just 15. Costa Mesa detectives took over the investigation after Sheriff's investigators said any potential abuse in their jurisdiction happened beyond the ten years prosecutors have to file charges in sexual abuse cases, a Sheriff's spokesman said. Schildknecht was arrested on suspicion of two counts of oral copulation and one count of digital penetration in incidents police allege took place in 1995 and 1996 when the woman was 16. Investigators asked the Orange County District Attorney's Office to file charges against him under California law's extension of statute of limitation section, said Costa Mesa police Sgt. Robert Phillips. Schildknecht was recently put on leave from his job as a pianist at Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano because of the allegations of sexual misconduct, church officials said. He later resigned. "(Church officials) knew for a long time this guy was doing this and they let it go on and on," said attorney John Manly, who is representing Schildknecht's accuser. "This young girl's life was being destroyed. All they needed to do to stop it was pick up the phone and call police." In the lawsuit he accuses the Diocese of Orange and the parishes of St. Timothy's and St. Edward's of purposefully keeping Schildknecht's "propensities and tendencies as a child molester, sexual harasser and sexual abuser" from parishioners. Despite complaints of abuse from the teenager, church officials suspended Schildknecht for just a month – and then allowed him to return to work, where he was around children and teenagers. In addition to alleging several breakdowns of hiring and training operations by church and parish officials, the lawsuit accuses Schildknecht of assaulting and sexually harassing the teenager. The lawsuit asks for unspecified punitive damages as well as changes in the way the diocese and the two parishes operate. Schildknecht, who has posted bail and was released shortly after his arrest, has also worked at Saint Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Dana Point and Corpus Cristi Catholic-Christian Community of Aliso Viejo. Anyone with additional information or who believes he or she may have been a victim is encouraged to contact Supervising District Attorney Investigator Craig Kelsey at 714-347-8794. Contact the writer: 714-796-7829 or kedds@ocregister.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.