Victims of Sex Abuse by Catholic Clerics Say Prosecutors Lack the Guts to Prosecute Mahony
By Andre Coleman
Pasadena Weekly
July 26, 2007
http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/article.php?id=4902&IssueNum=82
Los Angeles (CA) — Pope Benedict XVI recently proclaimed the Roman Catholic Church to be the One True Church and the only way to achieve eternal salvation.
But for thousands of people who claim that they were sexually abused by leaders of that Church, both spiritual salvation and any hope for true justice in relation to those crimes seem to be in very short supply.
On July 16, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles settled with more than 500 people who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clerics for $660 million, an amount that won't bankrupt the sprawling and well-endowed archdiocese, as similar settlements in other major cities have done. But the Church will be forced to sell some of its land holdings and borrow to pay off its civil court debt.
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| Cardinal Roger Mahony |
However, some believe that is still a small price to pay for decades of sexual abuse, and victims are still not happy with the outcome of their legal crusades for closure, which some believe can only be achieved with the prosecution and conviction of Archbishop Cardinal Roger Mahony.
The problem is few victims believe local law enforcement officials have the guts to prosecute Mahony, one of the most powerful men in the Roman Catholic Church and once considered a possible future pope prior to publicity about the sex scandal.
In a brief court appearance on July 16 in which the archbishop and others representing the church were given backdoor access to the courtroom in order to avoid victims who had shown up that day, Mahony apologized but took no direct responsibility for the crimes committed against the plaintiffs, many of whom were children at the time of the violations.
"[Mahony] purposely had a hand in moving my perpetrator," said 41-year-old Ann Jyono, who was molested for seven years — starting as a 5-year-old in Stockton, where Mahony was a bishop before coming to Los Angeles.
Jyono was molested by Father Oliver O'Grady, but she didn't come forward until O'Grady was accused in another case and called her parents to borrow bail money. At that point, she told her parents what he had done to her.
In 1993, O'Grady pleaded guilty to four counts of lewd and lascivious acts with minors and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. He only served half of his sentence before the government deported him to his native Ireland.
In the Academy Award nominated documentary "Deliver Us From Evil," O'Grady admitted on camera that he molested numerous children while stationed in Stockton. O'Grady said in the film that he was able to commit these crimes against children because Mahony moved him from parish to parish.
Church officials have denied that accusation.
"He hid him and moved him around and promoted him. He has consistently done it wherever he has gone. If Mahony thinks this is over he is fooling himself. This is the beginning of correcting the wrongs that have gone on for centuries," Jyono said. "If he thinks his apology was anywhere close to sincere, he's wrong. He hurts himself every time he opens his mouth."
As part of the civil settlement deal, a retired judge will review Church personnel files and determine what information will be released to the public. Even if the information is released and proves to be incriminating, California prosecutors will have their hands tied by a 2003 US Supreme Court ruling that ended prosecutors' ability to charge priests in cases that occurred prior to 1988. The ruling forced prosecutors to drop all charges in 11 cases and release from custody a half-dozen clerics accused of sexual crimes.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Mahony left 16 priests
in their ministries for as long as 13 years even after concerns were raised about their allegedly inappropriate behavior toward children.
Los Angeles Archdiocese spokesperson Tod Tamberg did not return calls for this story.
In a prepared statement released the day the settlement was reached, Mahony apologized and said he would spend the day praying for the victims.
"I again extend my personal apology to victims who suffered sexual abuse by clergy and repeat again my steadfast commitment to continuing all of the abuse prevention programs and policies currently in force in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. I will continue to meet with any victim of abuse who wishes to meet privately with me," he said.
Attorney Ryan DiMaria, who won a $5.2 million award from the church several years ago, said Mahony was shown special privileges by the court, allowing him to avoid facing victims.
"If he is truly trying to be remorseful, coming [into court] like a crown prince is not being remorseful," DiMaria said.
In 2002, Mahony agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, shortly after Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley threatened to have the grand jury subpoena him. However, lawyers for the Church instead delayed prosecutors' efforts to obtain personnel files of suspicious priests, claiming those records were part of the Catholic rite of confession and therefore not only secret but protected by the First Amendment.
The Church finally settled the case nearly two weeks ago, days before the start of a trial that would have forced Mahony to testify under oath about what he knew and when he knew it.
Cooley has insisted that the criminal investigations of these cases are not over.
"We are aware there could be records that may become available to us as a result of today's settlement," Cooley said in a prepared statement. "If these documents reveal evidence of criminal activity on behalf of individual priests or anyone else, we will pursue them. The book is not closed on our investigation."
But some attorneys and survivors are losing faith in Cooley.
"Mahony has got his own little immunity program going on," said Jyono. "Someone has to slap him down here, and it's going to take a DA with guts to do it. I don't know why they can't indict this man. I was hoping [Cooley] was going to work on behalf of survivors and do that."
John Manly, an attorney for hundreds of plaintiffs, said reluctance to go after Mahony doesn't stop with Cooley.
"While our clients got justice, those who are responsible are not being held accountable, especially Cardinal Mahony," Manly said. "It's despicable that no county official will call for Mahony to resign. The DA said a couple of things, but I wish the DA would be quiet and indict him. This is a city that likes to consider itself progressive, but in the scheme of things, they are giving him a pass. It's disheartening.
"No one in Congress, no city council members will speak out against him," Manly said.
"If people worried about our children as much as they worry about illegal aliens, we'd be a lot better off."
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