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	Orange County Bishop Seeks to Seal Testimony in Abuse Case Associated Press, carried in Union-Tribune September 12, 2007 http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20070912-1335-ca-churchabuse-bishop.html Santa Ana – A judge has temporarily sealed testimony from Orange County's Roman Catholic bishop in a sexual abuse lawsuit at the request of church attorneys. Orange County Superior Court Judge Gail Andler barred public access to the testimony shortly after Bishop Tod Brown gave a deposition Monday, said plaintiff's attorney John Manly. She scheduled a full hearing on the issue for Thursday, he said. The court ordered Brown to give the deposition as part of a lawsuit involving a former coach and driving instructor at Mater Dei High School. The lawsuit alleges that teacher Jeff Andrade had sex with a 16-year-old female student multiple times over an 18-month period. The student's attorneys want to know what, if anything, Brown knew about other sexual abuse complaints made against the diocese during the decade that Andrade worked at the school. Andrade has admitted in a deposition to having sex with the student, who is now 26. He was fired in 1997, but police didn't file charges. Diocese officials declined to comment on pending litigation. Brown's attorney, Peter Callahan, said in an e-mail that the bishop was committed to transparency in such matters, but also "understands that the Diocese, like any employer, must follow state and federal law regarding public release of medical information of any employee or third party." Callahan said the diocese had asked the judge to determine whether such information could be made public. The lawsuit is the first to be filed in Orange County since the diocese paid $100 million nearly three years ago to settle 90 childhood sex-abuse claims. Eleven of those claims involved incidents at Mater Dei High School from 1978 to 1986. As part of the settlement, the diocese agreed to make the personnel files of accused priests public. More than 10,000 pages of documents from the files of 15 priests were eventually released, but the files of eight others have not been made public. Victims advocates also gathered in Los Angeles and San Diego on Wednesday to urge church officials in those dioceses to release personnel files of priests. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles settled more than 500 clergy abuse lawsuits in July for $660 million and promised to release priest files after a review by a judge. The Diocese of San Diego reached a similar agreement with 144 plaintiffs as part of a $198 million settlement last week. Attorneys have said, however, that the release of those files could take months.
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