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	Abusive Priests" Personnel Files Remain under Wraps By Victoria Kim Los Angeles Times May 3, 2010 http://mobile.latimes.com/inf/infomo?view=topstoriesitem&feed:a=latimes_1min&feed:c=topstories&feed:i=53599399 Three years after Los Angeles Archdiocese agreed to the largest priest abuse settlement in U.S. history, a key element of that agreement — public release of accused priests' personnel files — remains unfulfilled with no clear outlook on when the documents may be disclosed. For many who believed that church authorities had ignored or downplayed their accounts of abuse, release of the documents rivaled monetary compensation as the central part of the $660-million settlement agreement in 2007. "People want to be believed, they want their truths to be known and validated," said Carlos Perez-Carrillo, 44, who said he was molested by a consecrated brother who later became a priest. But Perez-Carrillo and the hundreds of others who sued have little ability to speed the process, and the other parties to the case have conflicting priorities. There is little financial incentive for attorneys to move the process forward; most plaintiffs' attorneys received their compensation shortly after the settlement. In Los Angeles, the throng of plaintiffs' attorneys once involved in the cases has been reduced to just one still working on the release of the files at the moment. The process is being overseen by a retired judge and is occurring largely outside public view. There are no deadlines. The lawyer who represents priests accused of abuse has insisted all along that any document involving their personnel records is shielded by state and federal privacy laws and has fought release at each step. And the archdiocese has shown little interest in speeding the process. "It's long, tedious job with lots of meticulous tasks," said J. Michael Hennigan, an attorney representing the archdiocese. "We move forward as fast as we move forward."
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