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	Detained Lawyer Tells of Tensions in Sex-Abuse Case By Tad Vezner Pioneer Press [St. Paul MN] September 22, 2006 http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/15577986.htm During a Mexico City news conference accusing Mexico's most prominent cardinal of protecting an alleged pedophilic priest, St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson was signaled aside by authorities. The ensuing conversation concerned him enough that he accepted a police escort to the airport. After the conference Wednesday, men identifying themselves as immigration officials approached Anderson and two others with him — David Clohessy, national director of Chicago-based Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, and colleague Michael Finnegan. After reviewing their papers and asking questions for an hour, "They surrounded us, and said, 'You need to come with us.' I said, 'Wait a minute, I want to see identification,' " Anderson said when reached at his Minneapolis home Thursday night. The man flashed his I.D. too fast for Anderson to read it and would not show it again, Anderson said. The men grabbed him by the arm and tried to get him into a black van with darkened windows, he claimed. The 20 or so members of the media intervened, telling Anderson, "You don't have to go with them," Anderson said. He called the United States Embassy, which he said also told him, "You do not have to go. Do not go." "It became pretty suspicious at that point," he said. Police arrived and questioned all involved. "The metropolitan police told us (what the supposed immigration officials were doing) was an entirely illegal operation, that they were trying to kidnap us or get money or both," Anderson said. "It was a very serious cause for alarm." The media event, in a downtown hotel conference room, was called Wednesday to reveal details of a civil lawsuit filed by Joaquin Aguilar Mendez, 25, in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday. The suit alleges Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera and Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony conspired to protect Catholic priest Nicolas Aguilar, who has been charged in California with 19 felony counts of committing lewd acts on a child. Mendez, a Mexican, told reporters he has feared for his life and those of his family since he first went public with his claims late last year. Rivera heads the Mexico City archdiocese and was considered a candidate to replace Pope John Paul II when the pope died last year. Mahony heads the United States' largest archdiocese. Anderson has handled a host of suits against the church on behalf of abuse victims. He and his colleges took the police up on an offer for an airport escort. They got on the plane without a hitch. "It felt somewhat like harassment, but if that's the case nothing will stop us," Clohessy said. "Our efforts are to protect kids." Mexico's immigration office said in a statement that the men sent to the hotel were seeking to verify the visas of the three men after receiving a call questioning their status. It said there were concerns about whether they were authorized to give a news conference after entering the country on tourist visas. Rivera's lawyer, Bernardo Fernandez del Castillo, said Thursday he would file a complaint asking that the federal prosecutor's office investigate further. "I think they're just trying to put the focus on us, rather than the problem that brought us there, the problem of sexual abuse. Children are in great, great peril as we speak," Anderson said. Fernandez del Castillo accused the group of trying to extort money from the Catholic Church. A statement from Rivera's office said the cardinal "at no time covered up" the priest, "nor has he participated in any conspiracy to give asylum in Mexico to priests accused of sexual abuses," it said. Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Los Angeles archdiocese, said the conspiracy charge "is preposterous and without foundation." Vance Owen, a Texas attorney representing Mendez, said the victim was seeking economic compensation because he "has suffered a great deal." He said no specific amount had been requested. The lawsuit accuses both cardinals of negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy and sexual battery, and it charges Aguilar with sexual battery, Owen said. Tad Vezner can be reached at tvezner@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5461.
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