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	Former Dana Point Priest Charged with Molesting Young Boy Dana Point Times July 21, 2009 http://www.danapointtimes.com/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=942 &cntnt01dateformat=%25B%20%25d%2C%20%25Y&cntnt01returnid=51 Former Dana Point Priest Charged With Molesting Young Boy July 21, 2009 Bookmark and Share Print A former Dana Point priest was charged today with molesting a young boy more than a decade ago at St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Costa Mesa. Denis Lyons, 75, later served as a priest in Dana Point's St. Edwards the Confessor Catholic Church. Lyons faces four felony counts of lewd acts with a child under 14. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum sentence of 14 years in state prison. According to a release by the district attorney's office, Lyons is accused of molesting the boy four times between January 1, 1992 and December 31, 1995, twice in the parish rectory at St. John's and twice in the church sacristy. The boy—who allegedly was abused between the ages of 7 and 9 and is now an adult—filed a report with the Costa Mesa Police Department last September. This isn't the first time Lyons has been accused of molesting a boy. In 2003, he was charged with molesting another boy under the age of 14 between 1978 and 1981, but the case was ultimately thrown out after a U.S. Supreme Court decision changed the statute of limitations application to sexual abuse cases, forcing the district attorney's office to dismiss all charges against Lyons. Lyons has never been charged with molesting any child in connection with St. Edwards, but the District Attorney's office is currently looking for more victims. In March, members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests protested at St. Edwards and handed out leaflets speaking out against "five known predators [who] have worked at this school" including Lyons. They urged parents to talk to anyone they knew that attended the school and ask about possible abuse. Lyons was arrested on July 20 at a local community center in Seal Beach and is expected in court on Wednesday, July 22 at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach. See the District Attorney's full release below. -Nathan Wright July 21, 2009 RETIRED PRIEST CHARGED WITH MASTURBATION-MOLEST OF 7-YEAR-OLD MALE PARISHIONER INSIDE CATHOLIC CHRUCH AND IN PRIESTS' LIVING QUARTERS *Criminal complaint was filed against same defendant in 2003 accusing him of molesting three other young male parishioners; Case dismissed by U.S. Supreme Court decision NEWPORT BEACH - The Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) filed charges today against a retired priest with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County for molesting a young boy more than a decade ago in the rectory and sacristy at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Costa Mesa. Denis Lyons, 75, Seal Beach, has been charged with four felony counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 with a sentencing enhancement allegation for substantial sexual conduct with a child. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum sentence of 14 years in state prison. Lyons is being held on $100,000 bail and is expected to be arraigned tomorrow, Wednesday, July 22, 2009, at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach. The time and Department are to be determined. "Our community has waited a long time for justice from this defendant. These types of crimes rob children of innocence and normal rites of passage into adulthood," said Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. "For the last 10 years as I have served as the District Attorney, this Office has prosecuted a judge, police officers, teachers, religious leaders, coaches, and many others who hold positions of power and trust in our community. Our entire community feels great regret and sadness when these people are charged with these types of crimes, but it does remind us that no one is above the law. No matter what job they have or what position they hold in society, they should expect to face prosecution if they perpetrate these crimes." Sexual Assault of John Doe #1 Between Jan. 1, 1992, and Dec. 31, 1995, Lyons is accused of molesting a young male student, John Doe #1, while the victim was a second and third grade student at St. John the Baptist Catholic School. The school was part of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Costa Mesa, where Lyons served as a priest. On four occasions, Lyons is accused of sexually assaulting the 7 to 9-year-old John Doe #1 by engaging in masturbation with the victim twice in his room in the parish rectory and twice in the church sacristy. A rectory is the residence and administrative office for the parish priests of a church. A sacristy is a room inside the church used to store religious garments, church documents, and sacred vessels. In July 2008, an attorney, who had been hired by John Doe #1 to represent him in a civil case, contacted the OCDA to report that John Doe #1 had been molested by Lyons. John Doe #1 personally filed a report with the Costa Mesa Police Department (CMPD) in September 2008. Prior Sexual Assault Case and Subsequent Supreme Court Ruling In April 2003, Lyons was charged by the OCDA with molesting another boy under the age of 14 between 1978 and 1981. Two other male victims were alleged on the complaint as independent corroborative evidence, but were uncharged due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. All three of the young boys attended St. John the Baptist Catholic Church while Lyons was a priest there. While this case was ultimately dismissed, the evidence of molest against one of the victims, John Doe #2, will be used in the current case as independent corroboration to extend the tolling of the statue of limitations as to John Doe #1. The April 2003 case was dismissed for the following reason: Prior to 1994, California law allowed for charges to be filed for sexual crimes within six years from the date of violation. In 1994, a California law (then PC 801, now PC 803) was passed stating that criminal charges can be filed for sexual crimes that occurred outside of the 6-year restriction without limitation as long as certain criteria are met including; 1) The case must be filed within one year of being reported by the victim to law enforcement; 2) The crimes must be against a child under the age of 18 and include substantial sexual conduct such as masturbation, oral copulation, penetration by foreign object, sexual intercourse, or sodomy; and 3) The case must be corroborated by clear, independent, admissible evidence. In July 2003, three months after Lyons was charged in Orange County for the molestation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Stogner v. California that it was unconstitutional for the timeline for filing sexual charges to go back infinitely. The Court determined that PC 801 could not be used retroactively and only applied to crimes that occurred from the time the law went into effect. Any crime that occurred prior to the passage of PC 801 was subject to the six-year limitation. As a result, sex crimes that occurred before 1988, or six years prior to the passage of PC 801 could no longer be prosecuted. The 2003 case against Lyons had to be dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired on the 1978 to 1981 molests. Circumstances of Arrest Lyons, who lives in Leisure World in Seal Beach, was arrested yesterday, July 20, 2009, while playing cards at a local community center by detectives from CMPD with the assistance of the OCDA Bureau of Investigation. CMPD has been instrumental in these investigations and spent hundreds of hours comparing the cases, conducting interviews, and eventually arresting Lyons for the offenses. In addition to being a priest at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Costa Mesa, Lyons is known to have been a priest at St. Edwards the Confessor Catholic Church in Dana Point and St. Mary's by the Sea Catholic Church in Huntington Beach. Anyone with additional information or who believes they have been a victim is encouraged to contact Supervising District Attorney Investigator Tim Craig at (714) 347-8558 or Costa Mesa Police Detective Mike Manson at (714) 754-5360. Deputy District Attorney Heather Brown of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case. ### Add A Comment This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots. (see: www.captcha.net) Code in the picture: Your Name(*): Comment(*): Posted by Albino Luciani - MURDERED POPE July 21, 2009, 5:37 pm www.bishop-accoountability.org/abusetracker for DAILY verified & vetted reporting on the Rog 'Mahl' Mahony, Tod Brown, & Robert Brom, Pedo Cult. THE SOLUTION? "STOP DONATING LAITY" as St. Peter Damien correct asserted & was canonized for. There is no middle ground here laity, you are either financially supporting a pervasive and proven curia caused pedo cult, or you are not. HOW WILL YOU ANSWER YOUR MAKER?! Fiat Lux & Veritas! Albino Luciani, MURDERED POPE Posted by Victoria July 21, 2009, 4:20 pm A few months back, some victims of sexual abuse by roman catholic clergy handed out leaflets warning parents of school children about the pedophile priests (including Lyons) who had be assigned to Edward the Confessor Parish. A lay worker from the school came out to confront leafleters, asking them who they were...They told him that they were victims of clergy sexual abuse;but before they could even finish, the lay worker said, "And you want me to feel bad about that?" And this is why victims are still out there, warning parents about the "possible" (past or present) danger their children might be in. Any person, let alone an educator (and especially a Roman Catholic Educator) with an ounce of Humanity or Pity, would care that children had been harmed by the anointed of our church, and in such perverted and monstrous ways. All around the world,every single day, the victims are still coming forward; and there will be many more in the years to come. And we, the Victims, will continue to be out there warning parents. You see, we don't ever want another child to suffer as we've suffered. GOD BLESS YOU.
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