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	Police Have No Record of Investigating Bishop Associated Press, carried in Union-Tribune September 19, 2007 http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20070919-1052-ca-churchabuse-bishop.html Santa Ana – Police have no records indicating they investigated sexual abuse allegations against a Roman Catholic priest who is now the bishop of the Diocese of Orange. Bishop Tod Brown, the highest-ranking church official for Orange County Catholics, said during a deposition last week that he was falsely accused in 1997 of molesting a young boy in the 1960s. Brown said an internal investigation by the Diocese of Fresno, where he worked at the time of the alleged molestation, turned up no evidence to support the claims. The Diocese of Orange said last week that the internal report had been handed over to Kern County prosecutors, who declined to press charges. Kern County District Attorney Edward R. Jagels said he had a "faint recollection" of the case, adding he forwarded it to the Bakersfield Police Department for investigation. But Bakersfield police can't find any paperwork on the case and the former lieutenant in charge of the sex crimes unit does not recall it, said Bakersfield Sgt. Greg Terry. "It's either the investigation was never done or one was done but it was unsubstantiated," he said. Brown's accuser, 54-year-old Scott C. Hicks, has said he was never interviewed by police. Brown said in his deposition he was not contacted by police either. Hicks, who lives in Fresno, said Tuesday that he was angry that police may not have fully investigated his claim. He said he never went to the police himself because he trusted church officials to do the right thing. Brown's testimony came as part of an unrelated sex-abuse lawsuit against a lay teacher and coach at Mater Dei High School. A 26-year-old woman alleges that Jeff Andrade had sex with her multiple times when she was 16.
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