Mother Accuses American Martyr Priest of Sexual Harassment

Easy Reader
April 2, 2015

http://www.easyreadernews.com/94563/mother-accuses-american-martyr-priest-of-sexual-harassment/

People arrive for 5 o’clock mass at American Martyrs Catholic Church, where a woman said she was sexually harassed by a priest. Photo by Caroline Anderson

A Manhattan Beach mother is suing a priest at American Martyrs Church and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, alleging that the priest sexually harassed her and then was inappropriately transferred to another church after she complained.

Catherine Bergin, a lifelong church volunteer and married mother of three, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court last week against Father Nicholas Assi, who served as assistant pastor at American Martyrs from 2009 through last year, and the archdiocese.

On Friday, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese said that they had not yet been served with the lawsuit, but provided a two-paragraph statement.

The statement said that after the district attorney declined to press charges, Assi, who had been placed on administrative leave, had been reinstated.

“After cooperating with law enforcement and following all archdiocesan protocols, Fr. Assi was returned to ministry as a priest in good standing,” said the statement.

It also said that it had made announcements regarding the investigation in parishes where Assi worked before American Martyrs but had not received any other complaints about Assi before or since.

Assi was a family friend before the alleged harassment, according to the lawsuit, which said he regularly brought Middle Eastern treats for Bergin’s children and asked for their photos.

Bergin claimed that Assi made inappropriate overtures on several occasions and repeated requests for sexual contact, culminating in the event that prompted her to complain to church authorities.

Bergin was clipping branches from a hanging basket for evening mass on April 17, 2014 when the alleged attack occurred.

“Unbeknownst to Plaintiff, Defendant Father Nick came up from behind Plaintiff and put his arms around Plaintiff and leaned against Plaintiff,” said the lawsuit. “Defendant Father Nick whispered, ‘Hi darling.’ Defendant Father Nick caressed Plaintiff’s lower abdomen in a clockwise direction, put his nose in Plaintiff’s neck and took deep breaths. As Defendant Father Nick attempted to reach further down into Plaintiff’s pants Plaintiff muttered, ‘Ehhhhhh,’ twisted and pulled away from Defendant Father Nick.”

On another occasion at the church in March 2014, Assi hugged Bergin and kissed her on the lips before she pulled away, according to the lawsuit.

Bergin said she told Deacon Chris Amentea the day after the April incident. Two days later, she attended a meeting with Amentea and Monsignor John F. Barry. The lawsuit claims that Barry said something like “I told him to use more discretion” when Bergin told him about Assi’s behavior.

On Friday, Barry told the Easy Reader that this was false.

“No way on God’s earth would I say that,” said Barry. “It’s not my nature at all and it’s absolutely not part of my recollection. When I got the information, I said I’ll report it. And within five minutes of our meeting, I called the archdiocese hotline and received an immediate response.”

The hotline is used to report allegations of clergy abuse, he said.

Later that month, an investigator hired by the archdiocese, Jacqui Ruiz, interviewed Assi.

“Ms. Ruiz telephoned Plaintiff after the interview and told Plaintiff that Defendant Father Nick did not deny wrongdoings, corroborated details provided by Plaintiff, and he ‘totally did it,’” said the lawsuit. “Defendant Father Nick asked Ms. Ruiz to tell Plaintiff that he was very sorry if he had hurt her.”

The lawsuit also said that Ruiz and a representative of the Coordinator Victim’s Assistance Ministry told Bergin that “she was not sexually assaulted, that Defendant Father Nick ‘only committed some boundary violations.’”

Not satisfied by the church’s reaction, Bergin reported the alleged attack to the Manhattan Beach Police Department a couple of months later.

Bergin is seeking unspecified damages, including for “past and future medical, psychotherapy, and related expenses.”

Assi is currently working at St. Basil’s Catholic Church in Koreatown, according to the lawsuit. Before American Martyrs, he worked at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Pomona from 1998 to 2003 and St. Pancratius Catholic church in Lakewood from 2003 to 2008. The Archdiocese didn’t make him available for comment.

At a press conference with Bergin and her lawyer Joseph George in front of American Martyrs on Wednesday, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests asked others to come forward if they had been abused by Assi. ER