BishopAccountability.org
	Sex Abuse Review Board Members a Mystery By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola Gallup Independent June 22, 2011 http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AbuseTrackerArchive/2011/09/#055761 [note: This is the complete article] GALLUP — The Diocese of Gallup’s Review Board for Juvenile Sexual Abuse is once again making news. The diocese issued a news release Wednesday that announced Bishop James S. Wall had appointed six members to the local sex abuse review board but did not include the names of the six individuals. When contacted, diocesan spokesman Lee Lamb declined to provide the board members’ names, declined to explain why the names were not being released, declined to confirm if any previous members would continue to serve on the board, declined to say when the new board would meet with the bishop, and declined to provide contact information for the board. Why diocesan officials issued the news release without including the most salient information is just the most recent question concerning the sex abuse review board. How well the Diocese of Gallup was following the provisions of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and its Essential Norms has been in the news recently. The Charter was adopted in 2002 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in response to the national clergy sex abuse scandal. As outlined in the Charter, every Roman Catholic diocese is required to have a sex abuse review board act as a consultative body to the local bishop. The U.S. bishops have also since published a resource booklet to serve as a guide for local diocesan review boards. Contrary to the Charter’s requirements, the Diocese of Gallup’s Review Board for Juvenile Sexual Abuse has apparently been non-functioning for quite sometime: it hasn’t met for months and it has never met with Wall during his two years in Gallup. Wall’s failure to meet with the review board became the subject of numerous discussions on Catholic blogs. According to the diocesan news release, Wall’s appointment of the six board members completes “an extensive months-long process — which included a background check of each member — to replace outgoing members with terms that have been completed.” The only known new member of the sex abuse review board is the Rev. Frank Chacon of Winslow, Ariz. Lamb provided Chacon’s name several weeks ago. The Rev. Jerry Herff, Gallup resident Floyd Kezele, and Farmington therapist Margie Trujillo were original board members and are believed to have continued serving through to the most recent board. Herff moved to California months ago, and the current status of Kezele and Trujillo is unknown. Under Trujillo, the first board chairperson, the board used to issue informative news releases and responded to media questions. During that time, however, the board did suffer a serious public embarrassment when one of the Gallup board members — whom Trujillo declined to identify — failed to check the board’s post office box for a number of weeks. The box had been set up to receive abuse allegations from the public. Postal officials shut down the box after the board member failed to pay the box’s rental fee, and letters to the board were returned to the senders. Trujillo offered a public apology and the post office box was reopened. — Reporter Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola can be contacted at (505) 863-6811 ext. 218 orehardinburrola@yahoo.com
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