Fr. John Peter Lenihan
From Ireland. Told church officials in 1991 that he sexually abused a teenage girl in the 1970s. Church paid $25K to settle lawsuit; allowed him to continue to work. Removed in 9/2001 after he revealed several past sexual relationships with adult women to an L.A. Times columnist (under a pseudonym). In 12/2001, he was accused in a lawsuit of molesting a second teenage girl for two years, starting in the late 1970s. His accuser said she became pregnant and he paid for an abortion. Civil suit settled for $1.2M. Criminal charges dropped in 2003 due to a Supreme Court ruling on statutes of limitation. Laicized 5/28/2002. Personnel file released 11/23/2013. Suspected of fleeing to Mexico after allegations were made in the U.S. In 2006 Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, Mexico archbishop, refused to support efforts to find Lenihan and 39 other accused priests who may have fled the U.S. for Mexico .
- Orange County Register 02.04.91
- Orange County Register 02.04.91
- Orange County Register 02.04.91
- L.A. Times 06.13.93
- L.A. Times 03.29.02
- NBC4 04.01.02
- L.A. Times 04.02.02
- L.A. Times 04.09.02
- Dallas Morning News 06.12.02
- National Catholic Reporter (corrected) 04.11.03
- Amazing Connections 07.18.03
- L.A. Times 01.11.04
- OC Weekly 04.12.04
- OC Weekly 03.04.05
- OC Register 05.17.05
- Long Beach Press Telegram 10.23.05
- La Jornada 09.22.06
- Orange County Register 09.14.07
- OC Weekly 06.02.08
- OC Weekly 03.06.09
- Tribune 02.07.10
- BishopAccountability Posting of Lenihan Personnel File 11.23.13
- Worthy Adversary 01.09.14
- OC Weekly 01.09.14
- Diocese of Orange 08.12.16
- Beach Reporter 11.09.17
Sources:
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