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	Diocese Records Don't Have to Be Given to Accuser Jonathan Kirrer of Fountain Valley Is Suing the Diocese of Orange and Father Denis Lyons over Alleged Sexual Abuse By Rachanee Srisavasdi Orange County Register February 20, 2009 http://www.ocregister.com/articles/kirrer-lyons-judge-2314319-diocese-prosecutors SANTA ANA The Diocese of Orange doesn't have to turn over internal records about allegations of childhood sexual abuse made against a priest who faces a new molestation accusation, a judge ruled today. The diocese and Father Denis Lyons are being sued by Jonathan Kirrer of Fountain Valley, who alleges Lyons abused him at St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Costa Mesa in 1994 and 1995. Kirrer filed his lawsuit in March 2008, and trial is scheduled for May 18. A hearing in the case was held today. Orange County Superior Court Judge Kazuharu Makino denied Kirrer's request to order the diocese to hand over records regarding previous allegations of child sex abuse by Lyons. The judge denied the request because Kirrer's lawyers did not comply with court procedures in filing the request. Outside the courtroom, Kirrer's lawyer, V. James DeSimone, called the judge's ruling a "travesty of justice," and said he would appeal. On a separate matter, the judge also ruled the diocese must produce a list of every person who has accused a priest of molestation from 1979 to the present, said Michael Morrison, another lawyer for Kirrer. Lyons – who was removed from ministry in 2002 – was not present in court today. One of his attorneys, Donald Steier, filed this week a motion for a protective order in the case, which seeks to prevent disclosure of Lyon's personnel file to the public. Besides the lawsuit, county prosecutors also are examining Kirrer's allegations. Lyons was interviewed on Thursday by prosecutors, who have said they are weighing whether to file criminal charges against him. The former priest, who has cost the diocese more than $4 million to settle sex abuse claims, escaped criminal prosecution in 2003. Orange County prosecutors had then accused Lyons of molesting a teenage boy for a three-year period beginning in 1978 at St. John the Baptist. Those charges, though, had to be dismissed when a U.S. Supreme Court ruling limited the ability of prosecutors to file older sex crime cases. Contact the writer: 714-834-3773 or rsrisavasdi@ocregister.com
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