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	New Legal Approach for Child Sex Abuse in Ca; SNAP Responds Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests June 23, 2010 http://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_statements/2010_statements/062310_new_legal_approach_for_child_sex_abuse_in_ca_snap_responds.htm Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688) (A new civil child sex abuse and cover up lawsuit has just been filed against the Los Angeles archdiocese. It charges church officials with fraud – only the second time in California history, apparently. The victims in both cases are represented by Sacramento attorney Joseph C. George.) We're not lawyers, but this strategy makes perfect sense to us. How can anyone deny that Mahony and his corrupt staff have engaged in fraud by ignoring and concealing known and suspected felonies against kids for decades, and shuffled predator priests among unsuspecting parishioners? In such inherently unfair struggles between powerful bishops and individual child sex abuse victims, the deck is almost always very heavily stacked in favor of bishops and their shrewd, expensive defense lawyers. This is especially true in Los Angeles, the nation's largest Catholic archdiocese, with its media savvy prelate, Cardinal Roger Mahony. We welcome almost any new approach that helps deeply wounded child sex victims expose child molesters in court and thereby safeguard other kids at risk. We also welcome any efforts that begin to start leveling this long-unfair 'playing field' in which Catholic officials enjoy such deference and favoritism. And leaving legal strategy aside for a minute, let's remember that because of this lawsuit, thousands of parents whose children are or were around Fr. Newell now realize they should ask their sons and daughters if he ever hurt them in any way. We applaud this victim for stepping forward and alerting the public about Newell. We hope his responsible move will inspire others who saw, suspected or suffered crimes and misdeeds – by this priest or other clerics – to take action, call police, warn others, protect kids and start healing. (SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world's oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We've been around for 22 years and have more than 9,000 members. Despite the word "priest" in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org) Contact David Clohessy (314-566-9790) http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iEmzgwLn0g5_AYVN1uk1hRwnmnwQD9GH50880 California man accuses Catholic church of fraud By GILLIAN FLACCUS (AP) LOS ANGELES — The 20-year-old college student was working as a youth minister with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles when he revealed a long-buried secret to church authorities: He had been molested by a priest for years, beginning when the cleric was first a youth minister and then a seminarian. The young man met with church officials, who promised the priest would never work around children again. Sixteen years later, the man — now a father of two — typed the Rev. Jeffrey Newell's name into a computer and was stunned by the results: Newell was still a priest, serving in the Diocese of Tijuana. His MySpace page lists a half-dozen teenage boys as his friends and includes pictures of Newell in his priest's collar. That discovery led to a lawsuit filed Tuesday against the Los Angeles archdiocese alleging that church leaders engaged in fraud and negligence by allowing Newell to continue serving as a priest long after his alleged crimes were reported. The lawsuit is the second to be filed in California in recent months that uses fraud — and not molestation or sexual battery — as the basis for litigation over alleged sex abuse, and more are expected. Dozens are already working their way through the legal system in several other states, including about 20 fraud cases filed in Minnesota in the past year. Church attorneys in California have submitted court papers calling the theory fatally flawed, and a Fresno County judge will soon consider if a case there, filed in April, passes legal muster in California. If it survives, suing for fraud could be another avenue for California clergy sex abuse victims who failed to take advantage of a one-year grace period that allowed them to sue after the deadline for a lawsuit had expired. The alleged California victim, referred to only as Joseph Doe in the lawsuit, says he was duped into not suing earlier because he believed the archdiocese had removed Newell. "I thought the archdiocese would handle it. I was 20, 21 years old and here I was going up as high as I thought I could go," said the man, who requested anonymity because he is a sexual assault victim and is concerned about his reputation as an administrator at a private Christian school. The Associated Press does not name alleged victims of sexual abuse. A 2008 letter from a church attorney to law enforcement indicates Newell was ordained in 1990, a year before the alleged victim reported the abuse, and removed from the Los Angeles archdiocese in 1993 for unrelated reasons. The letter lists possible contact information for him in the Diocese of Tijuana. On Wednesday, church spokesman Tod Tamberg said Newell was removed for "not complying with a treatment program for personal issues including obesity and alcohol" and engaging in "sexual misconduct with an adult." He did not elaborate. Newell, 48, now ministers in a working-class neighborhood there and holds a daily evening Mass with drums and electric bass that is broadcast live through the parish website. Young parishioners interviewed there said they think highly of "Padre Jeff," who runs a teen community group every week, holds a radio show for Catholic teens and takes groups of children on sleepovers to a church-owned ranch. There is no evidence of abuse allegations in Mexico. When approached by an Associated Press reporter, Newell said the Tijuana archdiocese told him not to comment. But he did say he had done nothing wrong in Mexico. "I've lived a chaste life for the past 20 years, 17 years in this community," he said. Until now, the church has been immune to old sex claims not filed within the one-year window — but that could change if these new lawsuits survive legal challenges, said Anthony DeMarco, a plaintiff's attorney in Los Angeles. The claims could also be a financial pitfall for the Roman Catholic church in California. The grace period led to about 1,000 lawsuits in California and has cost the church more than $800 million in settlements in recent years, including a record-breaking $660 million payout in Los Angeles and a $100 million deal in Orange County. "We've routinely found evidence that the church has covered up allegations of abuse and continued to place these priests into positions of trust," DeMarco said. "That to me is a fraud and there's probably quite a few folks out there who could benefit." Church attorneys say attempts to circumvent time limits on sex abuse cases by suing for fraud are dishonest and legally defective. Michael Hennigan, an attorney representing the Los Angeles archdiocese, did not return a call for comment, but papers filed in the Fresno case called the lawsuit a "tortured" attempt to sue a decade too late. Greg Keating, a tort law professor at the University of Southern California's law school, agreed the cases are a long shot, but said they could go forward if plaintiff attorneys can prove a pattern of deception. "The Catholic church is trying to rely on the statute of limitations for not being held accountable for some pretty serious wrongs. It's not a get-out-of-jail-free card," he said. AP stringer Mariana Martinez contributed to this report from Tijuana.
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