USA Today
October 9, 2007
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/10/calif-catholic-.html
Bishop Tod Brown of Southern California's Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange pleaded innocent Tuesday to a criminal charge of contempt of court. The Associated Press reports that according to its review of past cases, this may be the first time a judge has considered whether to hold a sitting Roman Catholic bishop in contempt.
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| Bishop Tod Brown |
The hearing was sought by lawyers for an alleged sexual abuse victim. They said Brown sent a high-ranking church official to Canada for medical treatment before he could be fully questioned in the case.
Msgr. John Urell, who handled allegations of sexual misconduct at the diocese, was sent to the Southdown Institute in Ontario, Canada, on Sept. 6, a week after he broke down during questioning by the lawyers. Brown testified he sent Urell away although he knew Urell "was going to be called back for further deposition."
The case that led to the hearing involves a 27-year-old woman who alleges she was abused by assistant basketball coach Jeff Andrade while she was a 16-year-old student at Mater Dei High School, one of the diocese's two parochial high schools.
The diocese recently settled four sex-abuse cases.
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