Cinematical [California]
October 9, 2006
http://www.cinematical.com/2006/10/09/deliver-us-from-evil-stirs-prosecutors-interest-in-cardinal-mah/
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Deliver Us From Evil, director Amy Berg's scathing indictment of Father Oliver O'Grady, a pedophiliac priest who was transferred around northern California for over 20 years while he preyed on young children in his parishes, has created quite a furor in Los Angles and revived interest in the actions of Cardinal Roger Mahony, who directly supervised O'Grady for five of the years he was actively molesting young children. In the film, O'Grady, who now lives in Ireland after being deported from the United States upon completion of a prison sentence for the molestation of two young boys, says that he was able to abuse children for so long in part because of the actions of Cardinal Mahony, who now heads the Los Angeles Archdiocese -- the largest in the country.
William Hodgman, top deputy of the target crimes division in Los Angeles, said in the report in the New York Times that the doc "will fuel ongoing consideration as to whether Cardinal Mahony and others engaged in criminal activity." Michael Hennigan, an attorney for the archdiocese, fired back that "If Mr. Hodgman is suggesting in any way that the cardinal is the subject of a criminal investigation, he is being irresponsible and in our judgment is committing prosecutorial misconduct."Mahony was bishop in Stockton from 1980-85, and was responsible for transferring O'Grady around Northern California after accusations of sexual misconduct were raised. The film features footage of Mahony in a videotaped deposition for a civil case in which two Stockton brothers (who were involved in a criminal case against O'Grady) also brought a civil suit against the local diocese. The civil suit alleged that the bishops of the diocese, including Mahony, failed to protect the children of the diocese by not ensuring that O'Grady would not have contact with children. Mahony denied knowing that O'Grady was a pedophile. The jury awarded $30 million to the brothers in that case (an amount later negotiated down to $7 million), and jurors at the time told the media they did not find Mahony's testimony credible. Mahony is also shown in a 2004 deposition related to civil trials in Los Angeles stating that a priest expressing sexual urges for a 9-year-old would not be cause for removing him from duty.
The Catholic Church currently faces a plethora of lawsuits related to sexual abuse by clergy. According to the Times article, there are several ongoing criminal investigations and prosecutions against priests in Los Angeles County, and over 500 civil suits, some of which name Cardinal Mahony. Berg said during the Q&A after the screening of her film at the Toronto International Film Festival last month that she approached Mahony and the Los Angeles Archdiocese about being interviewed for her film, and they repeatedly declined.
This is one of the only cases I've ever heard of where a documentary film has the potential to directly affect an ongoing criminal investigation. I've seen the film, which lays out a pretty clear case for Mahony having direct knowledge of O'Grady's pedophilia. O'Grady raped and molested hundreds of children while serving as a priest in California, including a nine-month-old infant. The film details how he was shuttled around from parish to parish whenever accusations against him were raised. What do you think, readers, about the possibility that Berg's documentary could end up finally bringing a sense of justice to at least some of the victims of clergy abuse in California? And how do you feel about a documentary film potentially being used as evidence in a case?
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