[See also other articles by Gustavo Arellano.]

Go visit the website of the Friends of Monsignor John , the brave individuals who sought to publicly support the Catholic Diocese of Orange's longtime point man in its horrendous sex-abuse scandal. Notice anything different? Notice there are no more comments , deleted or otherwise? Notice there are no more depositions, redacted or otherwise? Notice there isn't even the text of the group's full-page ad in the Orange County Register from last week? Granted, websites constantly evolve, but the Friends of Monsignor John are reeling yet again from another callous mistake.


Yesterday, Newport Beach attorney John Manly--who has sued Catholic dioceses across the world for their pedo-protecting ways--fired another letter to the Friends and its most prominent members, Rancho Santiago Community College District board president John Hanna and OC Blog boss Matt "Jubal" Cunningham. In a previous letter, Manly demanded that the group take down Urell's unredacted deposition because it revealed the names of six sex-abuse survivors without their permission. This time around, Manly was angrier.

Manly was upset because the Friends had posted an unredacted copy of the Memorandum of Understanding that solidified Bishop Tod D. Brown's $6.685 million settlement between his diocese and four molestation victims of Orange diocese teachers. "You had no right to discover the identity of or client, and you had no right to see an un-redacted version of the Memorandum of Understanding," Manly wrote to Hanna and and Cunningham. "So, where did you get it?"

More embarrassing for the Friends, though, Manly discovered that the Memorandum they posted wasn't redacted, as they had claimed to Manly in a previous e-mail. "My office printed a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding posted on your website," Manly wrote. "Contrary to your assertions, while the victim's name is redacted as displayed on the site, when printed, her name is un-redacted and there for all the world to see and know." D'oh! Manly's threatening to take the Friends to court so he can discover who's leaking unredacted legal papers to them.

In other Friends news, SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests) visited Hanna during a RSCCD board meeting yesterday. Hanna apologized but told Register reporter Rachanee Srisavasdi that "the group should come talk to him rather than protest at a board meeting regarding non-district related matters." Insert inspired Bungalow Bill stanza here, por favor.

E-mail: GARELLANO@OCWEEKLY.COM