By Salvador Hernandez
The Orange County Register
February 4, 2009
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/schildknecht-abused-catholic-2298856-choir-church
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| Albert Lee Schildknecht of Laguna Niguel, a former choir director at St. Timothy Roman Catholic Church, was arrested in 2007 on suspicion of sexual misconduct with a 16-year-old girl more than a decage ago. |
Case was also part of a $6 million settlement with Orange Diocese in 2007.
A former Catholic Church choir director has been sentenced to five years probation in a 14-year-old sexual abuse case.
Albert Lee Schildknecht of Laguna Niguel pleaded guilty in January to three sex counts involving a person under 18. On Friday, he was sentenced to five years probation in Orange County Superior Court.
The former director of the youth choir at St. Timothy Roman Catholic Church in Laguna Niguel, Schildknecht was arrested in June 2007 when the 28-year-old victim contacted authorities. According to the victim, Schildknecht forced her to have a sexual relationship with him when she was 15 years old.
The case made headlines in October 2007 when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange settled a lawsuit with four women who alleged they were sexually abused by Catholic school teachers. The diocese agreed to pay a total of $6.7 million to the four women, three of whom decided to go public to the media regarding the allegations of sexual abuse.
One of the women was Elaina Kroll, who said she was abused by Schildknecht while he worked at the church's music program. Kroll said Schildknecht was at one time suspended when he was seen kissing her in public, but was later reinstated. She was kicked out of the church choir.
Another woman alleged she abused by an assistant basketball coach at Mater Dei, and another said she was abused by another choir director.
The diocese admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement.
Schildknecht is also required to attend an AIDS prevention education program and testing.
Contact the writer: shernandez@ocregister.com or 949-454-7361
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