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	Hit-run Case Ends O'Brien's Tenure By Michael Clancy Arizona Republic December 25, 2009 http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/12/25/20091225vs03decade1225.html The Catholic Church's sex-abuse scandal reached a peak in 2003. The year started with a small protest outside holiday services at Phoenix's SS. Simon and Jude Cathedral and ended with a bishop disgraced. Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien had just celebrated his 21st anniversary as the leader of the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. He was well-known, respected and liked in the community. But his accomplishments could not overcome a steady drumbeat of bad news on the sexual-abuse front. The story had gone national in 2001, when it became clear that not only were there hundreds of abusive priests, but also that numerous bishops had exonerated them, enabling them to abuse others. Suspecting the same in Maricopa County, then-County Attorney Rick Romley began to investigate. He had his answers by June, when O'Brien signed an agreement acknowledging his errors and giving up authority over situations involving abusive priests. In exchange, the county attorney agreed not to prosecute. Afterward, O'Brien appeared to be a haunted man. Friends and family worried about his health; others clamored for his resignation. Two weeks later, it all came crashing to a halt. O'Brien, returning from a church service after dark on a weekend night, fatally struck pedestrian Jim Reed near the intersection of 19th Avenue and Glendale Road. O'Brien did not stop. He later explained that he did not know what he had hit. He said he feared someone had thrown something or that he had hit an animal. Within days, he was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident. O'Brien's tenure was over. By the end of the year, a new bishop was named to replace him. Convicted of the crime less than a year later, the former bishop was sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service, which he served without issue. He has remained more or less secluded since then.
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