Personnel Bile No. 5: The List

By Gustavo Arellano
OC Weekly
March 4, 2005

http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/05/26/ex-arellano2.php

[See also other articles by Gustavo Arellano.]

Document No. 5 isn’t a secret diocesan record but a list of every Orange County priest ever accused of pedophilia since 1958 and the parishes that they once roamed. [See BishopAccountability.org's version of the list and the original Excel spreadsheet.] For easier access, we’re presenting it in groups of three, with each list containing three priests, the years in which they served and their parishes. Some fun facts:

* Year with the most accused pedophiles: 1976 (17)

* Parish with the highest tally: St. Edward, Dana Point (John Lenihan, Denis Lyons, Michael Pecharich, Henry Perez, Gerald Plesetz, Siegfried Widera)

* Priest with the most assignments: Daniel Murray, Eleuterio Ramos and Gerardo Tanilong: five each. Ramos, however, gets extra points for going to Tijuana after getting suspended here!

* Parishes that housed two or more accused pedophiles at the same time: St. Boniface, Anaheim (1994: John Lenihan, Daniel Murray, Gerardo Tanilong), St. Cecilia, Tustin (1976: Michael Harris, Gerald Plesetz), St. Edward, Dana Point (1996-2001: John Lenihan, Denis Lyons), St. John the Baptist, Costa Mesa (1987: Denis Lyons, Gary Pacheco), St. Pius V, Buena Park (1976: Arthur Fernando, Denis Lyons)

* Priests who appear in the Los Angeles Archdiocese list of accused as having committed their crimes in Orange County but that aren't listed in the Orange diocese roll call: Gregory Atherton, Lynn Caffoe, John Coffield, Donald Duplessis, Arthur Fernando, James Ford, Richard Hartman, Bertrand Horvath, Bruce Klikunas, Gerald Plesetz, Joseph Sharkey, John Sheahan, Louis Stallkamp, Patrick Ziemann

* Foreign fiddlers: Arthur Fernando (Sri Lanka), Sofronio Aranda, Gerardo Tanilong (Philippines), Robert Foley, John Lenihan (Ireland), Edgardo Arrunataegui Jimenez (Mexico)

* Year with no accused pedophiles since 1958: One—2004.

To download the Excel spreadsheet click here. (For easier reading, choose "show gridlines" when printing.)

GARELLANO@OCWEEKLY.COM