NewsNet5.com
March 22, 2002
Cleveland -- In light of all the recent cases involving sexual abuse and priest, NewsChannel5's Ted Hart took a look at a former case involving a local woman. Bev Schonher: I think a monster crawled into his soul.
Hart: Bev Schonher says 20 years ago, she was sexually assaulted by her priest, the youth minister at Our Lady of Good Counsel.
Schonher: I wanted him defrocked, removed from children or working around them, and they just wanted to pay hush money, and I wouldn't take it, I said no.
Hart: We found the priest, Father Dan Mangen at St. Sebastian Parish in Purranque, Chile.
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| Daniel Mangen |
What's unclear is whether the church or the diocese knew of father Mangen's sexual activity when he was transferred to Chile in 1984.
What we do know from court documents is that Mangen has, in recent years, admitted to sexual activity with adults and minors while at Our Lady of Good Counsel. Two other former parishioners agreed to confidential settlements, but not Bev Schonher. She is still pursuing the issue in a lawsuit, and her attorney wants access to the diocese's so-called secret files.
Rick Sommers, attorney: It's hard to say... is there information in those documents that show the diocese did know about Father Mangen's sexual activity. We don't know.
Hart: And Sommers says they don't know about Mangen's activities in Chile and to what extent he has contact with children.
Beverly says the sexual abuse and the absence of an apology has done her irreparable harm.
Schonher: I didn't lose my faith in God. I lost my faith in the Catholic church.
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