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	Bishop Says He Was Falsely Accused of Abuse By Louis Medina Bakersfield Californian September 13, 2007 http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/236265.html A Catholic bishop was accused of sexually abusing a boy while serving as a priest in Bakersfield in the 1960s, according to a deposition unsealed in Orange County on Thursday. PDF: Read the deposition of Orange County Bishop Tod Brown, formerly a Bakersfield In the deposition, Orange County Bishop Tod Brown acknowledged that he knew of child sexual abuse accusations made against him personally, that he knew the alleged victim and his family and that he taught catechism at the parish where the child attended church. The allegation was later dismissed as not credible by the Diocese of Fresno. The deposition concerns the case of "Jane Doe vs. the Diocese of Orange," in which the accused is not Brown, but rather a coach named Jeff Andrade, who allegedly abused a 16-year-old in the mid-1990s, while he worked at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, according to Joelle Casteix of the Orange County office of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. "As a part of that lawsuit, (the plaintiff's) lawyers fought to depose Tod Brown about what he knew about abuse in the (Orange) diocese," Casteix said. "The diocese fought not to give those depositions," she said, adding that this information was published recently in major Southern California-area newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register. In a formal written statement, Deacon Jesse J. Avila, spokesman for the Diocese of Fresno, said that in July 1997, the diocese "received a letter alleging sexual misconduct" by Brown, which apparently had occurred "over 40 years ago in Bakersfield, California," when he was a priest. Venus Soltan, an attorney involved in the Orange County Jane Doe case, said Brown's alleged victim was 10 years old at the time of the alleged abuse. The Fresno bishop's office "promptly initiated an investigation" when the abuse was reported, conducting "several documented interviews of the complainant and others," Avila said, but the investigating board found "absolutely no factual or credible basis whatsoever" in the accusations. This was communicated to the accuser, Avila said, and all investigative reports were turned over to the Kern County District Attorney's office. Ryan Lilyengren, spokesman for the diocese of Orange, said Brown has "served with distinction for 43 years." He said Brown was widely recognized as "a progressive church leader committed to transparency and accountability." Critics like Casteix, however, have something much different to say. "When he was asked why he didn't list his name among priests credibly accused" as other priests have done, Casteix said about Brown's deposition on Monday, "Tod Brown said he didn't list his name because he thought it was embarrassing. So he hid that. He hid that information from the public. So basically he's lied to everybody about it." Casteix's claim was confirmed by John Manly, also an attorney in the Jane Doe case. At the time of publication, Manly was unable to provide the name of the Bakersfield parish where Brown was working when the alleged abuse took place. Lilyengren said, "Bishop Brown and the Diocese of Orange remain committed to the covenant with the faithful and its mandate for transparency and accountability consistent with the requirements of state and federal law." However, SNAP's national outreach director, Barbara Dorris, said in an e-mail, "More than most bishops, Brown has postured as an allegedly transparent reformer, yet he keeps trying to hide behind legal technicalities to avoid answering questions. And like most bishops, Brown has one standard for himself and another standard for others." Contact: lmedina@bakersfield.com
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