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	Brown Served at Northeast Church Then-Priest Accused of Abusing Child in '60s By Louis Medina Bakersfield Californian September 14, 2007 http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/237067.html range County Bishop Tod Brown, who was accused of sexually abusing a 10-year-old Bakersfield boy in the 1960s, served for at least four years as an assistant pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. PDF: Read the deposition of Orange County Bishop Tod Brown, formerly a Bakersfield Related Stories: Bishop says he was falsely accused of abuse The current pastor, Monsignor Michael R. Braun, who has been at the church since 1987, said Brown was ordained in 1963. "His first assignment as a priest was at Our Lady of Perpetual Help," Braun said. He said Brown performed his first baptism at the parish on May 11, 1963, and his last baptism on Oct. 1, 1967. These dates are closely indicative of his span of service at the church, he said. "When you're appointed a pastor, the date of your appointment and your departure are always available readily," Braun said. "But to find out when an associate (or assistant) pastor served we go to our sacrament books." The allegations against Brown, which were brought up in 1997, were promptly reviewed and dismissed as not credible by the Diocese of Fresno, according to a formal statement from the diocese. Brown acknowledged that he knew of these accusations, that he knew the alleged victim and his family and that he taught catechism at the parish, in statements he made in a deposition on Monday in Orange County concerning another case of child sex abuse that does not involve him, but rather a Catholic high school coach in his diocese in the mid-1990s. Braun helped put together a timeline of Brown's career: 1967: Brown was transferred to the Monterey area, Braun said, in anticipation of the split of the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno into the now-dioceses of Monterey and Fresno. The diocese split in 1968, Braun said. "He ended up being the vicar general of Monterey," Braun said, "which is like being the second in command under a bishop." Late 1980s: "Then he went to Boise, Idaho." Braun said. He said Brown was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Boise in December 1988, and ordained bishop in April 1989. Brown served there for nine years, Braun said. Late 1990s to the present: "And then he was appointed bishop of Orange on June 30, 1998." On Sept. 3 of that year, he was installed as bishop and he continues serving in that capacity. Braun said he learned about the allegations of sexual abuse against Brown this year through a blog called "Abuse Tracker" that tracks allegations of abuse by priests and can be accessed from the Web site www.bishop-accountability.org. "Someone who tracks that Web site very closely called me in the spring and told me that there had been an allegation in (Brown's) past," Braun said. Brown's diocesan office says he is committed to transparency and accountability concerning the sex abuse scandals that have plagued the Catholic church in recent years. But his critics, including the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, say he has lied and withheld information about accusations against himself. Contact: lmedina@bakersfield.com
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