Wat de man ook moge doen met zijn sexualiteit in een gelijkwaardige relaties: moge zij en hij -en hij als aartsbischop - Mugabe en de zijnen overleven!
Daar zou het leven van tienduizenden anderen in Zimbabwe wel eens mee gepaard kunnen gaan.
July 17, 2007
Anti - Mugabe Cleric Ensnared In Alleged Sex Scandal
By REUTERS
Filed at 11:29 a.m. ET
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's state-run media has published what it said were photos of Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube in bed with a woman, a day after the outspoken critic of President Robert Mugabe was sued for adultery.
The scandal has dominated radio and television news on Zimbabwe's state-owned stations, beginning on Monday when a state TV crew filmed Ncube being served with the lawsuit.
On Tuesday, the government-owned Herald and Chronicle newspapers ran the photos under the headlines "Pius Ncube Shamed" and "Pius in Sex Scandal." Several photos showed a man identified by newspapers as Ncube removing his clothes and lying in bed with a woman.
The two dailies said the photos were from a security camera hidden in Ncube's bedroom in Bulawayo by a private investigator hired by Onesimus Sibanda, who is suing Ncube for allegedly having a two-year sexual affair with his wife, Rosemary Sibanda.
Adultery is illegal in Zimbabwe.
Ncube refused to comment on the lawsuit or photos when contacted by Reuters on Tuesday.
But when asked if the photos were authentic, Ncube's lawyer, Nick Matonzi, said: "What I can say is that we are contesting the allegations definitely."
He declined to give further details except to say that Ncube, the archbishop of Zimbabwe's southern Bulawayo diocese, had filed papers opposing the lawsuit.
Lawyers for Onesimus Sibanda served Ncube with a Z$20 billion ($1.3 million at the official rate and $154,000 on the black market) lawsuit less than a week after the cleric returned from a trip abroad where he was outspoken in his criticism of Mugabe's government.
"For a long time my client has been suspecting that his wife, a senior church committee representative at St. Pius parish, was in an adultery relationship with Archbishop of the Bulawayo diocese, Pius Ncube," Sibanda's lawyer said in the papers filed with the High Court.
A broadcast first aired on Zimbabwe state television on Monday showed Ncube, visibly shaken, being pressed about the adultery accusations and pleading with the journalists to leave him alone.
"We are human beings and we are all sinners. Man is both a saint and a sinner," Ncube said. "I will not answer those questions which concern my private life. There are circumstances," he said.
An ardent Mugabe opponent, Ncube has accused the 83-year-old Zimbabwean leader and his government of human rights abuses and suppressing political dissent.
In March, Ncube said he was ready to face bullets in anti-government protests to help bring democratic change in the southern African nation, which is mired in a deep economic and political crisis.
Earlier this month London's Sunday Times quoted Ncube as saying Britain would be justified in invading its former colony to rid it of Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, but the archbishop has since distanced himself from those remarks.
Vermoedelijk afrekening
Krant beticht Mgr.Pius Ncube van overspel
Geplaatst door Theo Borgermans opwo 18 jul '07 om 00:02u
HARARE (RKnieuws.net) - The Chronicle, een Zimbabwaanse staatskrant, heeft dinsdag foto’s gepubliceerd die voorgesteld worden als zijnde van een aartsbisschop die met een gehuwde vrouw in bed ligt. Mgr. Pius Ncube, katholieke aartsbisschop van Bulawayo - de tweede grootste stad van het land - was niet bereikbaar voor commentaar.
De foto’s zijn van slechte kwaliteit en werden uitgesmeerd over verscheidene bladzijden van de krant. Volgens de krant werden de foto’s genomen door een pivfé-detective, ingehuurd door de echtgenoot van de vrouw die vervolging dreigt in te stellen wegens overspel.’
Mijn cliënt ontkent deze aantijgingen en we overwegen een rechtszaak in te spannen’, aldus de advocaat van mgr. Ncube.
Sommigen vrezen dat de staatskrant mgr. Ncube verdacht wil maken omdat hij een felle tegenstander is van president Mugabe. De aartsbisschop heeft trouwens al meer dan eens openlijke kritiek geleverd op het staatshoofd en de Zimbabwanen opgeroepen in opstand te komen tegen het regime. Toen de Zimbabwaanse bisschoppen in mei jongstleden een open brief publiceerden die zeer kritisch was voor de president verweet Mugabe hen aan politiek te doen. (tb)
Aartsbisschop Pius NCube:
’Situatie in Zimbabwe wordt steeds levensbedreigender’
Geplaatst door Theo Borgermans opdi 10 jul '07 om 14:03u
JOHANNESBURG (RKnieuws.net) - De gebrekkige economie in het Afrikaansecrisisland Zimbabwe heeft volgens aartsbisschop Pius Ncube inmiddelslevensbedreigende vormen aangenomen. "Op het platteland zijn er geen
levensmiddelen meer en binnenkort zijn er ook geen meer in de steden,indien de huidige prijspolitiek wordt gehandhaafd", waarschuwde de voorzitter van de hulporganisatie Solidarity Peace Trust dinsdag in deZuid-Afrikaanse grootstad Johannesburg.
In Zimbabwe heeft de regering van president Robert Mugabe verordend dat ondanks een inflatie van meer dan 4.500 procent de uitbaters van winkels en tankstations hun prijzen met meer dan de helft moeten reduceren. Rond de 1.300 eigenaars of uitbaters, die de verordening niet snel genoeg nakwamen, werden tijdelijk opgepakt. De door de staat voorgeschreven prijzen liggen ver onder de inkoopprijs, die door de winkeleigenaars moet betaald worden. Aartbisschop Ncube heeft de jongste maanden het beleid van president Mugabe al herhaaldelijk op de korrel genomen. (tb)
Ncube
Zimbabwe
donderdag, juli 19, 2007
woensdag, juli 18, 2007
Moge je verzekerd zijn, van kardinale excuses
Zijne eminentie Kardinaal Mahony, LA, schijnt te lijden aan een heel erg slecht geheugen - zoals hij de afgelopen jaren tenslotte zelf ten opzichte van meerdere rechters en een Grand Jury heeft moeten opbiechten.
Da's heel vervelend voor de man! En die Rooms Katholieke Kerk natuurlijk.
Zeker omdat de man ook nog eens hele grote problemen had met het overleggen van dossiers.
Dossiers waaruit benodigde informatie gehaald zou kunnen worden over daders en slachtoffers. Informatie waaruit zou kunnen blijken wat die Kerk, en wie in die kerkelijke hierarchie dan wel, wist over zaken die andere mensen - slachtoffers van kerkerlijk seksueel misbruik, maar ook hun gezinnen, hun families, maar zeker ook kerkelijk (mede)werkers en functionarissen aangaat.
Het hebben van een geheugen -al dan niet slecht - is tenslotte niet slechts voorbehouden aan bisschoppen en kardinalen.
Zoals dossiers worden aangelegd precies om te zorgen dat bij vragen en onduidelijkheden over verantwoordelijkheden een mens niet afhankelijk is van zoiets als het geheugen.
Ten slotte gaat het over mensenlevens nietwaar, kinderen en "hun herders" in wie ouders, parochianen hun vertrouwen stellen hen te leiden in het geloof in het eeuwige zielenheil - en da's nogal een tijd - en het verbond vanuit het Evangelie -en er zijn nu eenmaal mensen die dat het hoogste goed vinden en daarin wensen te geloven.
En waarom mij dit nu toch zo doen denken aan al die kinderlijke mopjes met hele lange baarden over Petrus met zijn toegang tot die hemel en diens geheugen?
Een mens moet tenslotte ergens zijn overlevingskracht vandaan halen. Desnoods bij Petrus himself.
Gelukkig maar dat slachoffers en met hen velen heel veel hebben geleerd. Waardoor de deal in La voor een een grote groep van die 500 die dat nu nodig hadden en kozen voor die deal en tegen de publieke rechtszaken, mogelijk werd. Maar het daarbij voor elkaar kregen dat onderdeel van die miljoenen deal is dat er informatie openbaar wordt gemaakt, ook zonder die publieke rechtszaken. Dat wat de Grand Jury -hoe verpletterend die informatie ook was - nog onvoldoende voor elkaar kreeg.
Stapje voor stapje, en soms met een reuzenstap komt die informatie toch wel boven tafel. Door mensen die weigeren nog langer akkoord te gaan met dat dit mogelijk is en was. Mensen die geloven in morgen! Waardoor slachtofferschap niet levenslang hoeft te zijn!
Confidential documents and sworn statements by Cardinal Roger Mahony were released last week, ending two years of legal maneuvers to shield "his eminence" from examination in the Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal. The cardinal's testimony, memos and letters offer a rare glimpse into Mahony's formative years as a priest and young bishop in Fresno and Stockton from 1962 to 1985, and reflect on his moral standing as shepherd of 5 million Catholics in Los Angeles and ranking prelate in the United States.
Mahony emerges as a man of contradictions and memory problems. A man who claims never to have known a priest to have sex before 1968, who struggles to remember steps he took — or did not take — to address a pedophilia crisis of epic proportions. A man whose fitness to lead must now be examined in light of whether he is telling the truth or not.
Compelled by the court after months of resistance, Mahony was deposed recently at his lawyer's office in downtown Los Angeles. Five lawyers representing hundreds of sex-abuse victims questioned Mahony for six hours about how he responded to accusations that priests in his charge had molested children. His stubborn refusal to answer all questions with candor was a virtual dare to his adversaries to dig deeper for the truth.
Victims who witnessed the deposition struggled to contain their emotions as Mahony's attorneys coached the cardinal and cajoled victims' lawyers, who in their blunt questioning conveyed a sense of moral outrage on behalf of people whose lives were ruined by a priest who might have been stopped had the cardinal done more. At stake was not only the tenuous negotiations of hundreds of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse, or the pending prosecution of a few rogue priests, or even the possibility of broader conspiracy charges against Mahony and his colleagues, but the credibility of the last remaining symbol of influence, power and authority in the U.S. Catholic Church.
The result is 265 pages of testimony that shows Mahony distancing himself from his own career. "As I get older, more distant things I can't remember," he says. Like a crooked screw, his story just doesn't fit, no matter how hard he twists.
For instance, despite new, damaging evidence, Mahony insists he did not lie when he testified in a civil trial in 1998 that he dealt with just one priest accused of molestation while he was the bishop of Stockton from 1980 to 1985. He says he simply forgot about memos in his own hand in 1981 and 1984 that show him lowering the boom on two previously undisclosed priests accused of molestation. Meanwhile, in 1984, he transferred a pedophile priest to a new parish where he molested again. Church personnel documents are cryptic but suggest a broader problem than the one Mahony denies remembering.
Such evidence undermines Mahony's credibility as a witness and an administrator. After his sworn testimony, lawyers accused him of perjury, and sent a transcript to prosecutors in Northern California for investigation. Fallout could reach Los Angeles, where his decisions to leave priests in ministry after he knew they had molested children are being investigated. A criminal trial of one, Michael Wempe, begins in January, and prosecutors know of key witnesses who could revive charges against another, Michael Baker.
"No amount of public relations can turn this into a poor memory," says A.W. Richard Sipe, a psychotherapist, author and former priest. "For a man of his background and administrative capability to make such a claim is disgusting. We're scratching at the surface of his character here. And you are seeing the philosophy of the Catholic hierarchy, which is, ‘I only lie when I have to.'
"Mahony's credibility will be an issue in 544 lawsuits headed for settlement in Los Angeles. Lawyers for abuse victims have shown they will relinquish the fight for accountability if the price is right. They recently settled 87 lawsuits with the Diocese of Orange for $100 million, after the diocese promised not to conceal documents that likely will emerge only after lawsuits are dismissed. While attorneys contend a large enough settlement could cost Mahony his job, Sipe believes the truth could be more effective. "If the real story gets told, lay people will realize that Los Angeles is more corrupt than Boston," he says.
Some of the discrepancies may appear small. For example, the Catholic Church for decades has called upon a variety of institutes to evaluate and treat priests with sexual disorders. Mahony, in his deposition, said he had no knowledge of them until 1985. Likewise, he seemingly was rising through the ranks of some other Catholic Church when the Vatican was disseminating procedures for dealing with priests accused of solicitation and pedophilia in the 1960s. Mahony was ordained in 1962, and was a licensed social worker in Fresno from 1964 to 1970. He served there as a chancellor and a vicar between 1975 and 1980. Yet he barely acknowledges being aware that the church was rife with molestation. He even denies knowledge of priests breaking their vow of celibacy until after the Second Vatican Counsel, in 1968. "I wouldn't have any way of knowing," he said.
"Mahony would have to be deaf, dumb and stupid not to have known of priests breaking their vows in the 1960s," says a member of the clergy in Los Angeles. "Having sex is one way many found out whether the priesthood was the right calling for them." Father Thomas Doyle, an Air Force chaplain and canon law expert says, "As chancellor and vicar, the number one issue that takes up your time is dealing with problem priests."
One case that Mahony had trouble recalling is illuminated in confidential memos from 1970 that show him overseeing the transfer of Monsignor Anthony Herdegen from one parish to another. Mahony, in his deposition, denies any knowledge of reports that young boys visited Herdegen in his private residence in the rectory. He says Herdegen was transferred for being too conservative. But in December 2003, the Fresno Bee reported that two brothers accused Herdegen of sexually abusing them in the 1960s and 70s. Herdegen served in 10 parishes before retiring in 1985.
More explicit records from the Diocese of Stockton show Mahony knee-deep in personnel problems. Yet he maintained in his deposition that three accused molesters were reported to him before 1985 — a claim that contradicts trial testimony he gave in 1998, in which he admitted only one. Personnel records suggest there may have been more than three.
The subject at trial in 1998 was Oliver O'Grady, a pedophile Mahony transferred in 1984, despite a 1976 letter of apology from O'Grady to an 11-year-old molestation victim, and a psychiatrist's report stating O'Grady had a "severe defect in maturation in the matter of sex and social relationships." Mahony claims he never looked in O'Grady's confidential file, however, so he could not have possibly seen the letter. And, he said that he did not consider the psychiatrist's report to pose a serious problem.
Even if true, such indifference is shocking. Sources say O'Grady was the subject of numerous molestation settlements before Mahony arrived. But again, as incoming bishop, Mahony says he never inquired about the fitness of the priests in his diocese. He says he didn't even have a key to the confidential-file cabinet, which is odd, because such files are kept secret from most everyone except the bishop. O'Grady was convicted of lewd conduct involving a child in 1993 and later deported to Ireland. At the 1998 trial Mahony was asked if any other priests were involved with any kind of sexual misconduct with children. Mahony replied, "I cannot recall another case." Jurors, some of whom said they did not believe Mahony, awarded $30 million to O'Grady's victims. A judge later cut the award to $7 million.
In fact, O'Grady, who responded to a recent lawsuit with a 10-page anatomical explanation claiming he could not have anally raped a boy 150 times based on his own "medical research, including the Internet," was not the only accused priest Mahony dealt with at Stockton. Newly surfaced documents, some handwritten by Mahony, show that he took swift action against two accused priests visiting from Mexico in the early 1980s.
In 1981, Mahony learned of families who complained that Father Antonio Munoz had taken their sons to Tijuana and "had some type of sexual misconduct." Mahony fired the priest. "Your assignment and your faculties were canceled because of problems of a very serious and grave nature," he wrote to Munoz in 1982. Mahony then met with a family in 1984 that claimed their two boys drank beer with Father Hector Camacho in his bedroom, where the priest later molested them. Mahony typed a five-page memo of his firing of Camacho. "It is my intention to take every possible step to be certain that no other young person is harmed," Mahony wrote. Mahony also wrote two letters to the Modesto police and letters to the bishops in all of the western states warning them not to hire Camacho, who returned to Mexico under threat of prosecution. [See one of Mahony's letters to the police.]
At his deposition Mahony was asked why he did not acknowledge these incidents at O'Grady's trial in 1998. "It was some 13 years after I had left Stockton," Mahony said. "We had many events in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and I was very preoccupied. We had the visit of the [Pope]. We had earthquakes. We had riots. We had everything. I simply did not remember everything that happened in Stockton."
Sipe, who witnessed the deposition, was astounded. "Lawyers might call that perjury, but a lay person would say, ‘My God, that's a lie.' Even if he had a genuine memory lapse it raises questions about his ability to lead." Such perceptions devastated Cardinal Bernard Law in Boston, when a judge ruled that his deposition testimony did not appear truthful.
A review of personnel records during Mahony's tenure as bishop of Stockton suggest he was more involved with priest pedophilia problems than he admits. Clergy Personnel Board minutes from December 12, 1984, concern a man named Father Titian Miani. "[Miani] seems to be causing dissension in the parish," the minutes state. "Reports have come from very credible witnesses. We have no process to deal with priests who act unprofessionally, nor a way to listen to credible witnesses in such cases." Miani was charged in 2003 with two counts of committing a lewd act on a child in the mid-1960s. Charges were dropped in 2003 after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down California's statute of limitations for child sex abuse.
Then there are cryptic entries such as one about a priest who "is back after visiting missionaries. He'll try to use moral persuasion. We are informing anyone from Welfare, etc., to use civil arm of Stockton to deal with him if necessary." And this, related to another priest: "OK right now, not bad-bad." Sipe, the author of the book Celibacy in Crisis, says, "‘Bad' means alcohol problems. ‘Bad-bad' means fucking kids."
After scandal erupted in 2002 Mahony admitted to leaving eight accused molesters in ministry as cardinal in Los Angeles. That includes Michael Baker, who admitted to Mahony in 1986 that he had molested several youths, but who Mahony kept in ministry for 14 years. Baker was charged with 34 counts of molestation, which were dismissed as a result of the Supreme Court ruling. And it includes Michael Wempe, who faces new criminal charges after 42 counts of sex crimes were dismissed last year.
Yet Mahony states that even in the 1980s he knew he must remove priests from ministry when he received credible allegations of molestation. "I knew that we wanted priests serving in our parishes who were not going to be a danger to anybody," he testified. But he also said that O'Grady's admitted sexual urges toward a 9-year-old would not lead to his removal. Last Thursday, Mahony told a reporter from CNN that the protocol of the 1980s was to leave accused priests in ministry because, "We misunderstood pedophilia to be a moral weakness or a sin, something that could be dealt with through spiritual counseling. We now know that is inadequate." Mahony has offered similar explanations to explain Baker, Wempe and others who remained in ministry well into the 1990s.
Thomas Brandlin, a deacon in Los Angeles, has a theory about Mahony. In 1986, Brandlin was accused of molesting a boy in Santa Barbara. Even after Brandlin obtained a declaration of factual innocence from the Santa Barbara District Attorney's Office, Mahony denied his full faculties for 10 more years, until Brandlin hired a canon lawyer and brought his case to the Vatican. "He has no plan," Brandlin says of Mahony.
"He does and says what he needs to get out of whatever situation he is confronted with."
Maybe Mahony should stick to memory loss after all.
*
To download the complete text of Cardinal Mahony’s deposition, click here.
To download part of Cardinal Mahony's testimony from a 1998 civil trial [deposition Exhibit 8], click here. To download a letter from Cardinal Mahony to the Modesto Police regarding Father Camacho [Exhibit 4], click here.
To download a 1984 memo from Cardinal Mahony regarding Father Camacho [Exhibit 3], click here.
[At the end of Exhibit 3, Anderson included Exhibit 2, a letter from the superior of the Paraclete's Via Coeli facility, announcing monthly reports to the bishops. We provide Exhibit 2 as a separate file: click here. The deposition and the four exhibits no longer exist on the www.laweekly.com server. When they were still available there, we copied them to our server for safe-keeping and present them here.]
Da's heel vervelend voor de man! En die Rooms Katholieke Kerk natuurlijk.
Zeker omdat de man ook nog eens hele grote problemen had met het overleggen van dossiers.
Dossiers waaruit benodigde informatie gehaald zou kunnen worden over daders en slachtoffers. Informatie waaruit zou kunnen blijken wat die Kerk, en wie in die kerkelijke hierarchie dan wel, wist over zaken die andere mensen - slachtoffers van kerkerlijk seksueel misbruik, maar ook hun gezinnen, hun families, maar zeker ook kerkelijk (mede)werkers en functionarissen aangaat.
Het hebben van een geheugen -al dan niet slecht - is tenslotte niet slechts voorbehouden aan bisschoppen en kardinalen.
Zoals dossiers worden aangelegd precies om te zorgen dat bij vragen en onduidelijkheden over verantwoordelijkheden een mens niet afhankelijk is van zoiets als het geheugen.
Ten slotte gaat het over mensenlevens nietwaar, kinderen en "hun herders" in wie ouders, parochianen hun vertrouwen stellen hen te leiden in het geloof in het eeuwige zielenheil - en da's nogal een tijd - en het verbond vanuit het Evangelie -en er zijn nu eenmaal mensen die dat het hoogste goed vinden en daarin wensen te geloven.
En waarom mij dit nu toch zo doen denken aan al die kinderlijke mopjes met hele lange baarden over Petrus met zijn toegang tot die hemel en diens geheugen?
Een mens moet tenslotte ergens zijn overlevingskracht vandaan halen. Desnoods bij Petrus himself.
Gelukkig maar dat slachoffers en met hen velen heel veel hebben geleerd. Waardoor de deal in La voor een een grote groep van die 500 die dat nu nodig hadden en kozen voor die deal en tegen de publieke rechtszaken, mogelijk werd. Maar het daarbij voor elkaar kregen dat onderdeel van die miljoenen deal is dat er informatie openbaar wordt gemaakt, ook zonder die publieke rechtszaken. Dat wat de Grand Jury -hoe verpletterend die informatie ook was - nog onvoldoende voor elkaar kreeg.
Stapje voor stapje, en soms met een reuzenstap komt die informatie toch wel boven tafel. Door mensen die weigeren nog langer akkoord te gaan met dat dit mogelijk is en was. Mensen die geloven in morgen! Waardoor slachtofferschap niet levenslang hoeft te zijn!
Maar daarvoor moet je gisteren en daarvoor kennen en durven weten.
Het hebben van een geheugen niet de vloek laten zijn van jeugd-slachtoffers van misbruik en een slecht geheugen het voorrecht van een kardinaal. Maar een gezamelijk geheugen hebben!
Want het is het klimaat van vandaag dat aan de bomen van gisteren de vruchten van morgen bepaalt!
En dit zijn hele goede bijdragen aan dat gezamelijke geheugen. Ook om excuses van een kardinaal werkelijke excuses te laten zijn, gericht op een opgeschoond morgen.En niet op de verzekering!
Daarvoor draagt niet alleen zo'n kardinaal die dat excuus aanbiedt de verantwoordelijkheid. Net zo min als deze slachtoffers alleen waren of zijn of het alleen hoeven te doen. Net zo min als die of welke kardinaal dan ook.
Daar staan immers heel veel slachtoffers garant voor!
Cardinal UntruthsMahony's Testimony in Sex Scandal Clashes with Earlier Statements and RealityBy Jeffrey AndersonLA WeeklyDecember 15, 2004
http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/cardinal-untruths/1101/[BishopAccountability.org has linked quotes from the Mahony deposition to the relevant page in the deposition itself. At the end of this article, see links to the full Mahony deposition and four exhibits.]Confidential documents and sworn statements by Cardinal Roger Mahony were released last week, ending two years of legal maneuvers to shield "his eminence" from examination in the Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal. The cardinal's testimony, memos and letters offer a rare glimpse into Mahony's formative years as a priest and young bishop in Fresno and Stockton from 1962 to 1985, and reflect on his moral standing as shepherd of 5 million Catholics in Los Angeles and ranking prelate in the United States.
Mahony emerges as a man of contradictions and memory problems. A man who claims never to have known a priest to have sex before 1968, who struggles to remember steps he took — or did not take — to address a pedophilia crisis of epic proportions. A man whose fitness to lead must now be examined in light of whether he is telling the truth or not.
Compelled by the court after months of resistance, Mahony was deposed recently at his lawyer's office in downtown Los Angeles. Five lawyers representing hundreds of sex-abuse victims questioned Mahony for six hours about how he responded to accusations that priests in his charge had molested children. His stubborn refusal to answer all questions with candor was a virtual dare to his adversaries to dig deeper for the truth.
Victims who witnessed the deposition struggled to contain their emotions as Mahony's attorneys coached the cardinal and cajoled victims' lawyers, who in their blunt questioning conveyed a sense of moral outrage on behalf of people whose lives were ruined by a priest who might have been stopped had the cardinal done more. At stake was not only the tenuous negotiations of hundreds of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse, or the pending prosecution of a few rogue priests, or even the possibility of broader conspiracy charges against Mahony and his colleagues, but the credibility of the last remaining symbol of influence, power and authority in the U.S. Catholic Church.
The result is 265 pages of testimony that shows Mahony distancing himself from his own career. "As I get older, more distant things I can't remember," he says. Like a crooked screw, his story just doesn't fit, no matter how hard he twists.
For instance, despite new, damaging evidence, Mahony insists he did not lie when he testified in a civil trial in 1998 that he dealt with just one priest accused of molestation while he was the bishop of Stockton from 1980 to 1985. He says he simply forgot about memos in his own hand in 1981 and 1984 that show him lowering the boom on two previously undisclosed priests accused of molestation. Meanwhile, in 1984, he transferred a pedophile priest to a new parish where he molested again. Church personnel documents are cryptic but suggest a broader problem than the one Mahony denies remembering.
Such evidence undermines Mahony's credibility as a witness and an administrator. After his sworn testimony, lawyers accused him of perjury, and sent a transcript to prosecutors in Northern California for investigation. Fallout could reach Los Angeles, where his decisions to leave priests in ministry after he knew they had molested children are being investigated. A criminal trial of one, Michael Wempe, begins in January, and prosecutors know of key witnesses who could revive charges against another, Michael Baker.
"No amount of public relations can turn this into a poor memory," says A.W. Richard Sipe, a psychotherapist, author and former priest. "For a man of his background and administrative capability to make such a claim is disgusting. We're scratching at the surface of his character here. And you are seeing the philosophy of the Catholic hierarchy, which is, ‘I only lie when I have to.'
"Mahony's credibility will be an issue in 544 lawsuits headed for settlement in Los Angeles. Lawyers for abuse victims have shown they will relinquish the fight for accountability if the price is right. They recently settled 87 lawsuits with the Diocese of Orange for $100 million, after the diocese promised not to conceal documents that likely will emerge only after lawsuits are dismissed. While attorneys contend a large enough settlement could cost Mahony his job, Sipe believes the truth could be more effective. "If the real story gets told, lay people will realize that Los Angeles is more corrupt than Boston," he says.
Some of the discrepancies may appear small. For example, the Catholic Church for decades has called upon a variety of institutes to evaluate and treat priests with sexual disorders. Mahony, in his deposition, said he had no knowledge of them until 1985. Likewise, he seemingly was rising through the ranks of some other Catholic Church when the Vatican was disseminating procedures for dealing with priests accused of solicitation and pedophilia in the 1960s. Mahony was ordained in 1962, and was a licensed social worker in Fresno from 1964 to 1970. He served there as a chancellor and a vicar between 1975 and 1980. Yet he barely acknowledges being aware that the church was rife with molestation. He even denies knowledge of priests breaking their vow of celibacy until after the Second Vatican Counsel, in 1968. "I wouldn't have any way of knowing," he said.
"Mahony would have to be deaf, dumb and stupid not to have known of priests breaking their vows in the 1960s," says a member of the clergy in Los Angeles. "Having sex is one way many found out whether the priesthood was the right calling for them." Father Thomas Doyle, an Air Force chaplain and canon law expert says, "As chancellor and vicar, the number one issue that takes up your time is dealing with problem priests."
One case that Mahony had trouble recalling is illuminated in confidential memos from 1970 that show him overseeing the transfer of Monsignor Anthony Herdegen from one parish to another. Mahony, in his deposition, denies any knowledge of reports that young boys visited Herdegen in his private residence in the rectory. He says Herdegen was transferred for being too conservative. But in December 2003, the Fresno Bee reported that two brothers accused Herdegen of sexually abusing them in the 1960s and 70s. Herdegen served in 10 parishes before retiring in 1985.
More explicit records from the Diocese of Stockton show Mahony knee-deep in personnel problems. Yet he maintained in his deposition that three accused molesters were reported to him before 1985 — a claim that contradicts trial testimony he gave in 1998, in which he admitted only one. Personnel records suggest there may have been more than three.
The subject at trial in 1998 was Oliver O'Grady, a pedophile Mahony transferred in 1984, despite a 1976 letter of apology from O'Grady to an 11-year-old molestation victim, and a psychiatrist's report stating O'Grady had a "severe defect in maturation in the matter of sex and social relationships." Mahony claims he never looked in O'Grady's confidential file, however, so he could not have possibly seen the letter. And, he said that he did not consider the psychiatrist's report to pose a serious problem.
Even if true, such indifference is shocking. Sources say O'Grady was the subject of numerous molestation settlements before Mahony arrived. But again, as incoming bishop, Mahony says he never inquired about the fitness of the priests in his diocese. He says he didn't even have a key to the confidential-file cabinet, which is odd, because such files are kept secret from most everyone except the bishop. O'Grady was convicted of lewd conduct involving a child in 1993 and later deported to Ireland. At the 1998 trial Mahony was asked if any other priests were involved with any kind of sexual misconduct with children. Mahony replied, "I cannot recall another case." Jurors, some of whom said they did not believe Mahony, awarded $30 million to O'Grady's victims. A judge later cut the award to $7 million.
In fact, O'Grady, who responded to a recent lawsuit with a 10-page anatomical explanation claiming he could not have anally raped a boy 150 times based on his own "medical research, including the Internet," was not the only accused priest Mahony dealt with at Stockton. Newly surfaced documents, some handwritten by Mahony, show that he took swift action against two accused priests visiting from Mexico in the early 1980s.
In 1981, Mahony learned of families who complained that Father Antonio Munoz had taken their sons to Tijuana and "had some type of sexual misconduct." Mahony fired the priest. "Your assignment and your faculties were canceled because of problems of a very serious and grave nature," he wrote to Munoz in 1982. Mahony then met with a family in 1984 that claimed their two boys drank beer with Father Hector Camacho in his bedroom, where the priest later molested them. Mahony typed a five-page memo of his firing of Camacho. "It is my intention to take every possible step to be certain that no other young person is harmed," Mahony wrote. Mahony also wrote two letters to the Modesto police and letters to the bishops in all of the western states warning them not to hire Camacho, who returned to Mexico under threat of prosecution. [See one of Mahony's letters to the police.]
At his deposition Mahony was asked why he did not acknowledge these incidents at O'Grady's trial in 1998. "It was some 13 years after I had left Stockton," Mahony said. "We had many events in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and I was very preoccupied. We had the visit of the [Pope]. We had earthquakes. We had riots. We had everything. I simply did not remember everything that happened in Stockton."
Sipe, who witnessed the deposition, was astounded. "Lawyers might call that perjury, but a lay person would say, ‘My God, that's a lie.' Even if he had a genuine memory lapse it raises questions about his ability to lead." Such perceptions devastated Cardinal Bernard Law in Boston, when a judge ruled that his deposition testimony did not appear truthful.
A review of personnel records during Mahony's tenure as bishop of Stockton suggest he was more involved with priest pedophilia problems than he admits. Clergy Personnel Board minutes from December 12, 1984, concern a man named Father Titian Miani. "[Miani] seems to be causing dissension in the parish," the minutes state. "Reports have come from very credible witnesses. We have no process to deal with priests who act unprofessionally, nor a way to listen to credible witnesses in such cases." Miani was charged in 2003 with two counts of committing a lewd act on a child in the mid-1960s. Charges were dropped in 2003 after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down California's statute of limitations for child sex abuse.
Then there are cryptic entries such as one about a priest who "is back after visiting missionaries. He'll try to use moral persuasion. We are informing anyone from Welfare, etc., to use civil arm of Stockton to deal with him if necessary." And this, related to another priest: "OK right now, not bad-bad." Sipe, the author of the book Celibacy in Crisis, says, "‘Bad' means alcohol problems. ‘Bad-bad' means fucking kids."
After scandal erupted in 2002 Mahony admitted to leaving eight accused molesters in ministry as cardinal in Los Angeles. That includes Michael Baker, who admitted to Mahony in 1986 that he had molested several youths, but who Mahony kept in ministry for 14 years. Baker was charged with 34 counts of molestation, which were dismissed as a result of the Supreme Court ruling. And it includes Michael Wempe, who faces new criminal charges after 42 counts of sex crimes were dismissed last year.
Yet Mahony states that even in the 1980s he knew he must remove priests from ministry when he received credible allegations of molestation. "I knew that we wanted priests serving in our parishes who were not going to be a danger to anybody," he testified. But he also said that O'Grady's admitted sexual urges toward a 9-year-old would not lead to his removal. Last Thursday, Mahony told a reporter from CNN that the protocol of the 1980s was to leave accused priests in ministry because, "We misunderstood pedophilia to be a moral weakness or a sin, something that could be dealt with through spiritual counseling. We now know that is inadequate." Mahony has offered similar explanations to explain Baker, Wempe and others who remained in ministry well into the 1990s.
Thomas Brandlin, a deacon in Los Angeles, has a theory about Mahony. In 1986, Brandlin was accused of molesting a boy in Santa Barbara. Even after Brandlin obtained a declaration of factual innocence from the Santa Barbara District Attorney's Office, Mahony denied his full faculties for 10 more years, until Brandlin hired a canon lawyer and brought his case to the Vatican. "He has no plan," Brandlin says of Mahony.
"He does and says what he needs to get out of whatever situation he is confronted with."
Maybe Mahony should stick to memory loss after all.
*
To download the complete text of Cardinal Mahony’s deposition, click here.
To download part of Cardinal Mahony's testimony from a 1998 civil trial [deposition Exhibit 8], click here. To download a letter from Cardinal Mahony to the Modesto Police regarding Father Camacho [Exhibit 4], click here.
To download a 1984 memo from Cardinal Mahony regarding Father Camacho [Exhibit 3], click here.
[At the end of Exhibit 3, Anderson included Exhibit 2, a letter from the superior of the Paraclete's Via Coeli facility, announcing monthly reports to the bishops. We provide Exhibit 2 as a separate file: click here. The deposition and the four exhibits no longer exist on the www.laweekly.com server. When they were still available there, we copied them to our server for safe-keeping and present them here.]
dinsdag, juli 17, 2007
Rechter akkoord met deal over kerkelijk seksueel misbruik aartsbisdom LA
Judge approves LA archdiocese clergy sex abuse settlement
By Gillian Flaccus, Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 07/16/2007 11:50:19 AM PDT
LOS ANGELES - A judge on Monday approved a landmark $660 million settlement between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and more than 500 alleged victims of clergy abuse.
The deal was formally approved in a dramatic hearing marked by the sobs of victims and their attorneys, and a moment of silence for those victims who died during the years of negotiations.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Haley Fromholz said, "This is the right result."
The deal came after more than five years of negotiations and is by far the largest payout by any diocese since the clergy abuse scandal emerged in Boston in 2002. The amount averages a little more than $1.3 million per plaintiff, although individual payouts will vary according to the severity and duration of the abuse.
Dozens of the alleged victims gathered outside the courthouse to talk about the settlement.
In his apology, Mahony spoke about the plaintiffs. "There really is no way to go back and give them that innocence that was taken from them. The one thing I wish I could give the victims ... I cannot."
By Gillian Flaccus, Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 07/16/2007 11:50:19 AM PDT
LOS ANGELES - A judge on Monday approved a landmark $660 million settlement between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and more than 500 alleged victims of clergy abuse.
The deal was formally approved in a dramatic hearing marked by the sobs of victims and their attorneys, and a moment of silence for those victims who died during the years of negotiations.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Haley Fromholz said, "This is the right result.""Settling the cases was the right thing to do and it was done by dint of a number of extremely talented and dedicated people putting in an awful lot of time."
The deal came after more than five years of negotiations and is by far the largest payout by any diocese since the clergy abuse scandal emerged in Boston in 2002. The amount averages a little more than $1.3 million per plaintiff, although individual payouts will vary according to the severity and duration of the abuse.
Cardinal Roger Mahony, the head of the archdiocese, sat through the hearing but did not speak. He issued an apology on Sunday after the settlement was announced.
Ray Boucher, lead plaintiffs' attorney for alleged victims, asked his clients to stand during the hearing and thanked them for their resolve and their courage.
Boucher said, struggling to hold back tears, "It's their courage and commitment that made this possible and I think they deserve a tremendous debt of gratitude."
"I know it's hard for most of the victims whose scars are very deep ... and I know many will never forgive the cardinal. But he took steps that I think that only he could take and if left to the lawyers and others in the church he would not have settled this case."
The attorney for the archdiocese, Michael Hennigan, also appeared emotional as he told the court that his views of clergy sexual abuse changed dramatically during the years he spent trying to hammer out an agreement. He said private meetings with 70 of the plaintiffs made the most impact.
"It changed us all and it changed our perspective on what's happened here."
"It changed us all and it changed our perspective on what's happened here."
I'd like to say that the church would have been reformed without these cases, but I don't know that's true," he said.
"These cases have forever reformed the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. It will never be the same."
Dozens of the alleged victims gathered outside the courthouse to talk about the settlement.
Steve Sanchez said, "I hope that I'm no longer an `alleged' victim, 660 million should take that alleged off. Cardinal Mahony got off cheap today."
Mary Ferrell said she was abused for two years beginning in 1956 by a priest at Mary Star of the Sea parish in San Pedro.
Mary Ferrell said she was abused for two years beginning in 1956 by a priest at Mary Star of the Sea parish in San Pedro.
Ferrell said she never imagined she would be talking about it in a public square.
"When I was 7, I didn't tell anyone," she said. "I didn't know what he'd done to me and I didn't have the terms. I was totally alone and I carried it with me for all these years."
Ferrell said because of the abuse she has spent a lifetime battling with alcoholism and drug abuse.
"I isolate myself because it's the only place I feel safe. Having met all these other victims it's like they're my brothers and sisters," she said.
Ferrell said because of the abuse she has spent a lifetime battling with alcoholism and drug abuse.
"I isolate myself because it's the only place I feel safe. Having met all these other victims it's like they're my brothers and sisters," she said.
In his apology, Mahony spoke about the plaintiffs. "There really is no way to go back and give them that innocence that was taken from them. The one thing I wish I could give the victims ... I cannot."
maandag, juli 16, 2007
SNAP pers verklaring
SNAP Press Statement
For immediate release:Saturday night , July 14, 2007
Settlement apparently finalized, sex abuse victim reacts
Statement by Steve Sanchez, director of the Glendale chapter of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (818 262 6540)
My case was set for trial on Monday and I was really looking forward to finally forcing Mahony and other top church officials to face hard questions under oath about their role in Fr. Hagenbach's devastating crimes.
On the other hand, hundreds of hurting men and women desperately need intense therapy, addictions counseling, drug rehab, in-patient treatment and medical help. They need and deserve some healing and closure, especially after years of public relations posturing and hardball legal maneuvering by this archdiocese.
My worry is that many victims won't adequately appreciate the huge achievements they've made - in their own healing, in protecting others, in prodding law enforcement and in alerting citizens about pedophile clergy and corrupt bishops.
Contact information:David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, 314-645-5915 home), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688), Mary Grant (626-419-2930), Mark Serrano (703-727-4940)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priestswww.snapnetwork.org
For immediate release:Saturday night , July 14, 2007
Settlement apparently finalized, sex abuse victim reacts
Statement by Steve Sanchez, director of the Glendale chapter of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (818 262 6540)
My case was set for trial on Monday and I was really looking forward to finally forcing Mahony and other top church officials to face hard questions under oath about their role in Fr. Hagenbach's devastating crimes.
On the other hand, hundreds of hurting men and women desperately need intense therapy, addictions counseling, drug rehab, in-patient treatment and medical help. They need and deserve some healing and closure, especially after years of public relations posturing and hardball legal maneuvering by this archdiocese.
My worry is that many victims won't adequately appreciate the huge achievements they've made - in their own healing, in protecting others, in prodding law enforcement and in alerting citizens about pedophile clergy and corrupt bishops.
I also worry that Catholics may become somewhat complacent, when in fact, they should become even more diligent, so that more children don't suffer as we have suffered and are still suffering.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the nation’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 17 years and have more than 7,000 members across the country. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)Contact information:David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, 314-645-5915 home), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688), Mary Grant (626-419-2930), Mark Serrano (703-727-4940)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priestswww.snapnetwork.org
Mahony en zijn excuus
BBC nieuws
The deal was reached just before a series of trials into sex claims dating back to the 1940s were to begin.
"There really is no way to go back and give them that innocence that was taken from them. The one thing I wish I could give the victims... I cannot.
"Once again, I apologise to anyone who has been offended, who has been abused. It should not have happened, and it will not happen again," Cardinal Mahony said.
'Transparency critical'
Los Angeles diocese records released in the past revealed that for decades priests accused of child sex abuse were simply moved to new assignments or provided with therapy, Church leaders believing that they could be rehabilitated.
Insurance claim
The $660m-deal dwarfs the $157m settlement paid out by the diocese of Boston following a child sex scandal which became public in 2002.
The Los Angeles payment, which amounts to an average of $1.3m for each plaintiff, takes the total paid out by US dioceses to $2bn since 1950, with Los Angeles paying about one quarter of that.
Los Angeles is the country's most populous Catholic diocese, serving more than three million parishioners, but the scandal has brought the archdiocese close to financial ruin.
Earlier this year, Cardinal Mahoney told parishioners in an open letter that the Church would sell its 12-storey administrative building and was considering the sale of about 50 other non-essential properties to raise funds.
The abuse has also severely dented confidence in the Church and its leaders, the BBC's Peter Bowes in Los Angeles says.
'Stolen childhood'
David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said while it was the largest settlement by the Church, money was not the key objective for victims.
"No settlement, no amount of money, can restore the shattered trust and the stolen childhoods and the betrayed faith of people who were wounded by abusive priests and by complicit bishops," he said.
"But, having said that, certainly this represents a tremendous achievement by these brave survivors, who somehow found the strength to come forward, report the crimes, get legal help, expose the predators and ultimately endure a pretty long, gruelling legal process."
The Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles has apologised to hundreds of people abused by priests after agreeing to a record-breaking settlement.
The apology by Cardinal Roger Mahony, the Church's leader, comes after the 508 victims reached a pay-out deal with the church worth $660m (£324m).
The apology by Cardinal Roger Mahony, the Church's leader, comes after the 508 victims reached a pay-out deal with the church worth $660m (£324m).
Attorneys for both sides will appear in court on Monday to finalise the deal.
The deal was reached just before a series of trials into sex claims dating back to the 1940s were to begin.
Cardinal Mahony described
the abuse as a "terrible sin and crime"
"I have come to understand far more deeply that I ever could the impact of this terrible sin and crime that has affected their lives," Cardinal Mahony told a news conference, confirming the compensation deal.
"There really is no way to go back and give them that innocence that was taken from them. The one thing I wish I could give the victims... I cannot. "Once again, I apologise to anyone who has been offended, who has been abused. It should not have happened, and it will not happen again," Cardinal Mahony said.
'Transparency critical'
The agreement, if approved by a judge, will settle all 15 upcoming paedophilia trials against Los Angeles archdiocese and avoids the threat of Cardinal Mahony being forced to testify about how the Church dealt with abuses spanning the 1940s to 1990s.
Los Angeles diocese records released in the past revealed that for decades priests accused of child sex abuse were simply moved to new assignments or provided with therapy, Church leaders believing that they could be rehabilitated.
The settlement also calls for the release of confidential priest personnel files, said Ray Boucher, the victims' main lawyer.
"Transparency is a critical part of this and of all resolutions," he said.
Steven Sanchez, a plaintiff in the case, said he was both relieved and disappointed by the outcome.
"I was really emotionally ready to take on the archdiocese in court in less than 48 hours, but I'm glad all victims are going to be compensated," he said.
"I hope all victims will find some type of healing in this process."
"Transparency is a critical part of this and of all resolutions," he said.
Steven Sanchez, a plaintiff in the case, said he was both relieved and disappointed by the outcome.
"I was really emotionally ready to take on the archdiocese in court in less than 48 hours, but I'm glad all victims are going to be compensated," he said.
"I hope all victims will find some type of healing in this process."
Insurance claim
The $660m-deal dwarfs the $157m settlement paid out by the diocese of Boston following a child sex scandal which became public in 2002.
The Los Angeles payment, which amounts to an average of $1.3m for each plaintiff, takes the total paid out by US dioceses to $2bn since 1950, with Los Angeles paying about one quarter of that.
Los Angeles is the country's most populous Catholic diocese, serving more than three million parishioners, but the scandal has brought the archdiocese close to financial ruin.
According to Church lawyers the diocese is likely to pay $250m in cash, the rest of the sum being covered by insurance and payments by religious orders.
Earlier this year, Cardinal Mahoney told parishioners in an open letter that the Church would sell its 12-storey administrative building and was considering the sale of about 50 other non-essential properties to raise funds.
The abuse has also severely dented confidence in the Church and its leaders, the BBC's Peter Bowes in Los Angeles says.
'Stolen childhood'
David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said while it was the largest settlement by the Church, money was not the key objective for victims.
"No settlement, no amount of money, can restore the shattered trust and the stolen childhoods and the betrayed faith of people who were wounded by abusive priests and by complicit bishops," he said.
"But, having said that, certainly this represents a tremendous achievement by these brave survivors, who somehow found the strength to come forward, report the crimes, get legal help, expose the predators and ultimately endure a pretty long, gruelling legal process."
Since 2002 nearly 1,000 people have filed such claims against the Roman Catholic Church in California alone.
In February 2004, a report commissioned by the Church said more than 4,000 Roman Catholic priests in the US had faced sexual abuse allegations in the last 50 years.
In February 2004, a report commissioned by the Church said more than 4,000 Roman Catholic priests in the US had faced sexual abuse allegations in the last 50 years.
Catholic Church avoids abuse trial with LA deal
Sun Jul 15, 2007 4:45PM
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Archdiocese of Los Angeles said on Sunday it would pay people who were sexually abused by priests as children a record $660 million, although some victims regretted it meant church leaders would not face questioning in court.
Facing trial on Monday over abuse allegations dating as far back as the 1940s, the Archdiocese agreed to pay 508 victims the largest-ever group settlement.
The deal was the latest chapter in a clergy abuse scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church worldwide, damaging its moral standing and forcing five U.S. diocese to seek bankruptcy protection.
"I have a mixed reaction," said Steve Sanchez, 47, one of 12 victims who had been scheduled to go to trial.
"There's a group of victims who have been fighting this publicly and ready to take on the church publicly, probably a handful...," he said. "At the same time there is a large group of victims who did not want to go through with the process, being in the public."
..........
Nurse Mary Ferrell, 59, who was abused as a girl starting in the late 1950s, also spoke of mixed emotions.
"I appreciate the size of it because I think it shows the culpability and guilt of the Catholic Church," she said. "It will change my life in that my life will become easier financially but I don't think that it is going to cure all the pain and suffering."
Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Los Angeles archdiocese, said Cardinal Roger Mahony would be in court on Monday as attorneys seek the judges' approval of the settlement.
......
NO TESTIMONY FROM PROMINENT CARDINAL
The Roman Catholic Church, in which priests take a vow of celibacy, has faced abuse allegations worldwide over the past decade. Victims have alleged that church leaders often knew of abuse but did not do enough to stop it.
Some U.S. diocese have reached financial settlements with victims. The Archdiocese of Boston, where the U.S. scandal erupted in 2002, reached a 2003 deal for 550 people worth $85 million.
But victims have had special leverage in California because state legislators authorized an exception to the statute of limitations for old abuse complaints.
The Los Angeles cases have cast a spotlight on Mahony, one of the most prominent U.S. Catholic leaders. Victims allege he did not deal properly with complaints of abuse against priests, and the settlement spares him difficult questions in court.
"Cardinal Mahony and other church leaders would have had to take the witness stand under oath and tell the truth about how much they knew and how little they did with that knowledge to protect the children," said Barbara Blaine, founder of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
"What we would have seen is the horrors with the reality that hundreds of children were sexually assaulted, raped, sodomized by priests when the leadership of the church knew."
J. Michael Hennigan, attorney for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said the church would fund about $250 million of the $660 million settlement. The rest will come from insurers including Chubb, AIG, Allianz and Fireman's Fund with whom the church holds general liability policies as well as several Catholic religious orders.
Hennigan expects payments by the end of the year, with the church selling nonessential real estate assets, including the Los Angeles Archdiocese headquarters, to raise the funds.
If the Archdiocese meets that schedule, the payments will come ahead of a 2008 trip by Pope Benedict to the United States announced on Sunday.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Archdiocese of Los Angeles said on Sunday it would pay people who were sexually abused by priests as children a record $660 million, although some victims regretted it meant church leaders would not face questioning in court.
Facing trial on Monday over abuse allegations dating as far back as the 1940s, the Archdiocese agreed to pay 508 victims the largest-ever group settlement.
The deal was the latest chapter in a clergy abuse scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church worldwide, damaging its moral standing and forcing five U.S. diocese to seek bankruptcy protection.
"I have a mixed reaction," said Steve Sanchez, 47, one of 12 victims who had been scheduled to go to trial.
"There's a group of victims who have been fighting this publicly and ready to take on the church publicly, probably a handful...," he said. "At the same time there is a large group of victims who did not want to go through with the process, being in the public."
..........
Nurse Mary Ferrell, 59, who was abused as a girl starting in the late 1950s, also spoke of mixed emotions.
"I appreciate the size of it because I think it shows the culpability and guilt of the Catholic Church," she said. "It will change my life in that my life will become easier financially but I don't think that it is going to cure all the pain and suffering."
Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Los Angeles archdiocese, said Cardinal Roger Mahony would be in court on Monday as attorneys seek the judges' approval of the settlement.
......
NO TESTIMONY FROM PROMINENT CARDINAL
The Roman Catholic Church, in which priests take a vow of celibacy, has faced abuse allegations worldwide over the past decade. Victims have alleged that church leaders often knew of abuse but did not do enough to stop it.
Some U.S. diocese have reached financial settlements with victims. The Archdiocese of Boston, where the U.S. scandal erupted in 2002, reached a 2003 deal for 550 people worth $85 million.
But victims have had special leverage in California because state legislators authorized an exception to the statute of limitations for old abuse complaints.
The Los Angeles cases have cast a spotlight on Mahony, one of the most prominent U.S. Catholic leaders. Victims allege he did not deal properly with complaints of abuse against priests, and the settlement spares him difficult questions in court.
"Cardinal Mahony and other church leaders would have had to take the witness stand under oath and tell the truth about how much they knew and how little they did with that knowledge to protect the children," said Barbara Blaine, founder of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
"What we would have seen is the horrors with the reality that hundreds of children were sexually assaulted, raped, sodomized by priests when the leadership of the church knew."
J. Michael Hennigan, attorney for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said the church would fund about $250 million of the $660 million settlement. The rest will come from insurers including Chubb, AIG, Allianz and Fireman's Fund with whom the church holds general liability policies as well as several Catholic religious orders.
Hennigan expects payments by the end of the year, with the church selling nonessential real estate assets, including the Los Angeles Archdiocese headquarters, to raise the funds.
If the Archdiocese meets that schedule, the payments will come ahead of a 2008 trip by Pope Benedict to the United States announced on Sunday.
BBC tijdslijn USA Rooms katholiek misbruik schandaal
BBC news, 2007/07/15 09:54:06
The main events in the ongoing sex abuse scandal involving the US Roman Catholic Church and in particular the Boston Archdiocese, which has been at the centre of many of the highest-profile accusations.
8 January, 2002: Vatican publishes guidelines on how to deal with paedophile priests, saying all cases should be reported to Rome.
9 January: Cardinal Law apologises to victims of John Geoghan and promises a tougher line on abusive priests in future.
18 January: Geoghan convicted of indecent assault and battery of a 10-year-old boy, for which he later receives a 10-year prison sentence.
4 April: Two US men, in Florida and Oregon, begin legal action which symbolically names the Vatican for its alleged role in covering up sex abuse cases.
8 April: File released on the Rev Paul Shanley, alleging he publicly advocated sex between men and boys and still received the backing of the archdiocese for his ministry.
23 April: Pope John Paul II calls emergency meeting with US
On the same day, Roman Catholic activists from the Survivors First group launch an online database listing 573 US priests accused of involvement in paedophilia since 1996, later dropping 100 of the names.
3 December: New revelations about eight priests in Boston Shanley was convicted of raping
The action halts a trial of a lawsuit seeking some $155m against the late Rev Maurice Grammond, who was accused of molesting more than 50 boys in the 1980s.
28 September: Prosecutors drop a case against former Massachusetts bishop Thomas Dupre, hours after he is charged with raping two children in the 1970s.
15 November: US Roman Catholic bishops elect Bishop William Skylstad as their new president. His Washington diocese faces bankruptcy due to the volume of compensation claims made by alleged victims of child abuse.
3 December: After two years of talks, the diocese of Orange County, California, settles a sex abuse lawsuit brought by 87 plaintiffs for an unspecified sum. The diocese later says the package is worth $100m (£53m).
7 February 2005: A US court convicts Paul Shanley of four charges relating to offences committed in the 1980s including rape and indecent assault.
June: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, California, agrees to pay $35m (£17m) to 33 victims.
August: The Diocese of Oakland, California, agrees to pay $56m (£27.5m) to 56 people.
December 2006: The Archdiocese of Los Angeles agrees to pay $60m (£30m) to settle to 45 cases of alleged sexual abuse by priests.
January 2007: The Spokane diocese in Washington agrees to pay at least $48m (£24.7m) as compensation to people abused by priests.
July: A lead plaintiff lawyer says the Los Angeles Archdiocese has reached a financial settlement with 500 alleged sex abuse victims. Unnamed sources put the figure at $660m (£324m), but the settlement is yet to be approved by a judge.
The main events in the ongoing sex abuse scandal involving the US Roman Catholic Church and in particular the Boston Archdiocese, which has been at the centre of many of the highest-profile accusations.
1984: Bernard Law is appointed archbishop of Boston, and elevated to cardinal a year later.
1985: Sex abuse by priests becomes a national issue in the US for the first time, as Louisiana priest Gilbert Gauthe pleads guilty to 11 counts of molestation of boys.
1992-3: The Reverend James Porter of Fall River diocese, Massachusetts, is accused of abusing children in five US states in the 1960s and 1970s. He later pleads guilty to 41 counts of abuse.
1992: US bishops meeting in South Bend, Indiana, admit attempts by some of their number to hide abuse.
1993: First legal proceedings brought against Dallas diocese over sex abuse by the priest Rudolph Kos.
13 July, 1998: Dallas diocese forced to pay more than $31m to victims of Kos.
1999: Former Massachusetts priest John Geoghan indicted on child rape charges.
1985: Sex abuse by priests becomes a national issue in the US for the first time, as Louisiana priest Gilbert Gauthe pleads guilty to 11 counts of molestation of boys.
1992-3: The Reverend James Porter of Fall River diocese, Massachusetts, is accused of abusing children in five US states in the 1960s and 1970s. He later pleads guilty to 41 counts of abuse.
1992: US bishops meeting in South Bend, Indiana, admit attempts by some of their number to hide abuse.
1993: First legal proceedings brought against Dallas diocese over sex abuse by the priest Rudolph Kos.
13 July, 1998: Dallas diocese forced to pay more than $31m to victims of Kos.
1999: Former Massachusetts priest John Geoghan indicted on child rape charges.
8 January, 2002: Vatican publishes guidelines on how to deal with paedophile priests, saying all cases should be reported to Rome.
9 January: Cardinal Law apologises to victims of John Geoghan and promises a tougher line on abusive priests in future.
18 January: Geoghan convicted of indecent assault and battery of a 10-year-old boy, for which he later receives a 10-year prison sentence.
4 April: Two US men, in Florida and Oregon, begin legal action which symbolically names the Vatican for its alleged role in covering up sex abuse cases.
8 April: File released on the Rev Paul Shanley, alleging he publicly advocated sex between men and boys and still received the backing of the archdiocese for his ministry.
23 April: Pope John Paul II calls emergency meeting with US
cardinals in Rome. Geoghan, jailed for 10 years -murdered in jail
2 May: Paul Shanley arrested in California and later charged on three counts of child rape. He denies the charges.
13 June: US bishops approve "zero tolerance" national policy on abuse, but the Vatican demands changes to protect rights of priests.
17 September: Boston Jesuit priest James Talbot charged with raping and assaulting three teenaged students.
19 September: The Boston Archdiocese reaches $10m settlement with victims of John Geoghan, retracting a previous settlement of $30m which the Church said would have bankrupted the archdiocese.
3 November: Cardinal Law apologises for "decisions which led to suffering".
13 November: US bishops meet in Washington and approve revised policy on abusive priests which takes account of Vatican concerns.
2 May: Paul Shanley arrested in California and later charged on three counts of child rape. He denies the charges.
13 June: US bishops approve "zero tolerance" national policy on abuse, but the Vatican demands changes to protect rights of priests.
17 September: Boston Jesuit priest James Talbot charged with raping and assaulting three teenaged students.
19 September: The Boston Archdiocese reaches $10m settlement with victims of John Geoghan, retracting a previous settlement of $30m which the Church said would have bankrupted the archdiocese.
3 November: Cardinal Law apologises for "decisions which led to suffering".
13 November: US bishops meet in Washington and approve revised policy on abusive priests which takes account of Vatican concerns.
On the same day, Roman Catholic activists from the Survivors First group launch an online database listing 573 US priests accused of involvement in paedophilia since 1996, later dropping 100 of the names.
3 December: New revelations about eight priests in Boston Shanley was convicted of raping
at least one boy
archdiocese accused of abusing women and girls, taking drugs and supplying drugs in return for sexual favours.
6 December: Cardinal Law leaves for the Vatican, on the same day that he reportedly is ordered to appear before a grand jury investigating sex abuse allegations.
13 December: Cardinal Law resigns as archbishop.
April 2003: The Boston Archdiocese avoids bankruptcy by agreeing to sell land and buildings for over $100m to fund legal settlements to more than 500 abuse victims.
24 August: John Geoghan is killed in a Massachusetts prison.
6 December: Cardinal Law leaves for the Vatican, on the same day that he reportedly is ordered to appear before a grand jury investigating sex abuse allegations.
13 December: Cardinal Law resigns as archbishop.
April 2003: The Boston Archdiocese avoids bankruptcy by agreeing to sell land and buildings for over $100m to fund legal settlements to more than 500 abuse victims.
24 August: John Geoghan is killed in a Massachusetts prison.
27 February 2004: A report commissioned by the Church says more than 4,000 US Roman Catholic priests had faced sexual abuse allegations in the last 50 years, in cases involving more than 10,000 children - mostly boys.
1 July: The key accuser of defrocked priest Paul Shanley is dropped from the case by prosecutors.
7 July: In an unprecedented move, the Portland Archdiocese files for bankruptcy because of the huge costs from clergy sex abuse lawsuits.
7 July: In an unprecedented move, the Portland Archdiocese files for bankruptcy because of the huge costs from clergy sex abuse lawsuits.
The action halts a trial of a lawsuit seeking some $155m against the late Rev Maurice Grammond, who was accused of molesting more than 50 boys in the 1980s.
28 September: Prosecutors drop a case against former Massachusetts bishop Thomas Dupre, hours after he is charged with raping two children in the 1970s.
15 November: US Roman Catholic bishops elect Bishop William Skylstad as their new president. His Washington diocese faces bankruptcy due to the volume of compensation claims made by alleged victims of child abuse.
3 December: After two years of talks, the diocese of Orange County, California, settles a sex abuse lawsuit brought by 87 plaintiffs for an unspecified sum. The diocese later says the package is worth $100m (£53m).
7 February 2005: A US court convicts Paul Shanley of four charges relating to offences committed in the 1980s including rape and indecent assault.
June: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, California, agrees to pay $35m (£17m) to 33 victims.
August: The Diocese of Oakland, California, agrees to pay $56m (£27.5m) to 56 people.
December 2006: The Archdiocese of Los Angeles agrees to pay $60m (£30m) to settle to 45 cases of alleged sexual abuse by priests.
January 2007: The Spokane diocese in Washington agrees to pay at least $48m (£24.7m) as compensation to people abused by priests.
July: A lead plaintiff lawyer says the Los Angeles Archdiocese has reached a financial settlement with 500 alleged sex abuse victims. Unnamed sources put the figure at $660m (£324m), but the settlement is yet to be approved by a judge.
Gelovigen zien kardinaal als volslagen rand-idioot.
VS kerk schikt zedenzaken voor half miljard euro
Geplaatst door Theo Borgermans zo 15 jul '07 om 08:09u
LOS ANGELES (RKnieuws.net) - Het aartsbisdom Los Angeles betaalt vijfhonderd slachtoffers die zeggen seksueel misbruikt te zijn door geestelijken een totaalbedrag van 660 miljoen dollar (479 miljoen euro) om af te zien van hun aanklacht.
Het is hiermee de grootste schikking ooit in een zedenzaak.
Dat hebben de gezamenlijke advocaten van de slachtoffers zondagochtend gemeld, zo meldt het ANP. (tb)
Hilversum (ANP) 15 juli 2007 - Het aartsbisdom Los Angeles betaalt vijfhonderd slachtoffers die zeggen seksueel misbruikt te zijn door geestelijken een totaalbedrag van 660 miljoen dollar (479 miljoen euro) om af te zien van hun aanklacht. Het is hiermee de grootste schikking ooit in een
zedenzaak. Dat hebben de gezamenlijke advocaten van de slachtoffers vanochtend gemeld.
Je zult maar een integer RK priester zijn, met dat soort gelovigen!
Of Heilige Geest!
Geplaatst door Theo Borgermans zo 15 jul '07 om 08:09u
LOS ANGELES (RKnieuws.net) - Het aartsbisdom Los Angeles betaalt vijfhonderd slachtoffers die zeggen seksueel misbruikt te zijn door geestelijken een totaalbedrag van 660 miljoen dollar (479 miljoen euro) om af te zien van hun aanklacht.
Het is hiermee de grootste schikking ooit in een zedenzaak.
Dat hebben de gezamenlijke advocaten van de slachtoffers zondagochtend gemeld, zo meldt het ANP. (tb)
Reacties
Gepost gisteren om 9:28uIk weet, dat een priester als man hetzelfde seksuele wezen is als ik. De belofte om in volledige onthouding te leven acht ik voor velen dan ook niet weggelegd.Goed, dan komt hij erachter dat hij zich aangetrokken voelt tot vrouwen.
En waar ik al meer moeite mee heb, maar sinds 1968 relatief toch veel voor komt, zich aangetrokken voelen tot een man.
Maar dat zo intens veel hulpverleners, die weten dat het gehele leven van een kind kapot kunnen maken, pedofiel zijn geloof ik niet meer.Ik heb veel priesters in mijn vriendenkring, maar dit komt niet voor! En in de USA dan wel?
Helaas wordt de Kerk aarop aangesproken terwijl het in alle lagen van de maatschapij voor komt, zelf bij hulpverleners uit de medische en psychiatrische wereld.
Gepost door gisteren om 12:36uAlleen de kerk kun je plukken, de eerste beste man of vrouw dit hetzelfde pleegt kun je zo niet plukken. En vergeet niet in Amerika heeft de advocaat baat bij hoge schikkingen. No cure, no pay en hij krijgt een percentage van het bedrag!
Het moet toch wel heel vreselijk zijn om te geloven dat zo'n kardinaal, plus staf, een volslagen rand idioot is.
Hilversum (ANP) 15 juli 2007 - Het aartsbisdom Los Angeles betaalt vijfhonderd slachtoffers die zeggen seksueel misbruikt te zijn door geestelijken een totaalbedrag van 660 miljoen dollar (479 miljoen euro) om af te zien van hun aanklacht. Het is hiermee de grootste schikking ooit in een
zedenzaak. Dat hebben de gezamenlijke advocaten van de slachtoffers vanochtend gemeld.
Een schikking lijkt schuldbekentenis...
R.K.Priester Forum: Prikbord. Geplaatst op 15/7 '07 20:48u. Onderwerp: afkoop
Het blijft een wrang gevoel, omdat zo de indruk zou kunnen ontstaan dat het sommige slachtoffers niet om de waarheid en het voorkomen van toekomstige misdaden gaat, maar slechts om geld.
Forum: Prikbord. Geplaatst op 15/7 '07 21:14u. Onderwerp: afkoop
Het blijft een wrang gevoel, omdat zo de indruk zou kunnen ontstaan dat het sommige slachtoffers niet om de waarheid en het voorkomen van toekomstige misdaden gaat, maar slechts om geld.
Die gedachte deel ik.
Forum: Prikbord. Geplaatst op 15/7 '07 21:43u. Onderwerp: afkoop
Het blijft een wrang gevoel dat er in één bisdom vijfhonderd slachtoffers van kerkelijk seksueel misbruik zijn.Niet geteld degenen die er niet mee naar buiten zijn gekomen...
Forum: Prikbord. Geplaatst op 15/7 '07 22:35u. Onderwerp: Afkoop
Het blijft een wrang gevoel dat er in één bisdom vijfhonderd slachtoffers van kerkelijk seksueel misbruik zijn.Niet geteld degenen die er niet mee naar buiten zijn gekomen...
Jij als gelovige doet elke (zon)dag mee in de collecte, vervolgens blijkt je pastoor een delict te hebben begaan en jouw centjes verdwijnen in een schadevergoeding. Nogal motiverend...
Waarom wordt de kerk financieel aansprakelijk gesteld en niet de geestelijke zelf? Omdat hij geen cent te makken zou hebben?
Er zijn wel meer zedendeliquenten die een schadevergoeding moeten betalen al
hebben ze geen geld, of niet ?Gewoon voorbeeld: Stel je werkt als postbode en je hebt een slechte dag en slaat een bewoner in je wijk in elkaar. Mag het slachtoffer jouw bedrijf dan aanklagen? Kon je werkgever het weten dat je agressief werd ?
Forum: Prikbord. Geplaatst op 15/7 '07 22:57u. Onderwerp: Afkoop
Gewoon voorbeeld: Stel je werkt als postbode en je hebt een slechte dag en slaat een bewoner in je wijk in elkaar. Mag het slachtoffer jouw bedrijf dan aanklagen? Kon je werkgever het weten dat je agressief werd ?
In Nederland is normaal de werkgever aansprakelijk voor schade die door de werknemer aan derden wordt toegebracht in diensttijd. Tenzij er sprake is van opzet of bewuste roekeloosheid (en dat moet weer worden aangetoond.)
Kerkelijk voorbeeld in dit verband: stel de Tilburgse pastoor blijft klokkenluiden om 07.15 uur en uiteindelijk moet er betaald worden. Wie betaalt dan de boete: de pastoor zelf uit eigen zak, de parochie (ofwel de parochianen) of het bisdom (dus indirect ook de parochianen)? Dat wordt juristenwerk want priesters hebben geen arbeidsovereenkomst met het bisdom (alhoewel priesters fiscaal als werknemers behandeld worden). Het zijn echter ook geen zelfstandigen.
Forum: Prikbord. Geplaatst op 16/7 '07 1:27u. Onderwerp: Afkoop
Het blijft een wrang gevoel, omdat zo de indruk zou kunnen ontstaan dat het sommige slachtoffers niet om de waarheid en het voorkomen van toekomstige misdaden gaat, maar slechts om geld.
oordelen wil en kan ik niet, maar ben het helemaal met RK priester eens. Misbruik is NOOIT goed, maar waarom moet alles zo uitvergroot worden als het over de Katholieke kerk gaat? wordt er ook gekeken naar "slachtoffers" die labiel zijn of bordeliner zijn en het met de waarheid niet zo hoog op hebben? ik wil niemand kwetsen, maar kom ook op voor de Priesters die een o zo moeilijke taak hebben!
Je zult maar een integer RK priester zijn, met dat soort gelovigen!
Of Heilige Geest!
zaterdag, juli 14, 2007
Days In The Life
Victim of abuse cannot pursue action for damages
Mary Carolan
A man whose life was blighted after he was seriously physically and sexually abused at a residential school operated by the Brothers of Charity cannot proceed with an action for damages against the State and Southern Health Board (SHB), the High Court has decided.
Because a settlement of £28,000, secured by John Barrett (53) in a 1999 action brought by him against the Brothers of Charity, was recorded at that time as "full and final settlement of all claims", he could not now proceed with his action against the Southern Health Board and the State, Mr Justice Éamon de Valera ruled yesterday.The 1999 settlement was made without admission of liability. In his action against the health board and State, Mr Barrett, The Ballagh, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, claimed the health authorities and the State failed to properly inspect or inquire into what was going on at Our Lady of Good Counsel school at Lota, Glanmire, Cork. Moreover, he claimed his experiences there blighted his life, leading to problems with drink, depression and sexual relationships.
Although his parents were then still alive, he was admitted to Lota on the application of the Cork Health Authority in 1961 at the age of nine after he was mitching from school where he was being allegedly beaten for failing to write with his right hand. He claimed he was subject to serious and frequent sexual abuse until he left Lota at the age of 16. The abuse included being buggered on three or four nights a week for two- to three-hour periods each night, he claimed. A Brother Ambrose, also known as James Kelly, had been convicted and sentenced to 36 years on charges relating to that abuse and also relating to abuse of other boys at Lota. Mr Barrett claimed other Brothers also abused him.
Mr Justice De Valera delivered his reserved judgment yesterday on an application - made in March 2006 - by the health board and State defendants (the Ministers for Health and Children and Education and Science, Ireland and the Attorney General) for an order dismissing the proceedings on grounds of the earlier settlement, delay, and because, they claimed, the proceedings were brought outside the legal time limits.
Mr Justice De Valera said Mr Barrett's claim against the SHB and State was initiated in July 2000. A defence was filed by the SHB in 2001 but no defence had been filed by the other defendants. The judge noted that certain facts alleged by Mr Barrett, including that he was admitted to Lota in 1961, when he was described as suffering from a mild mental subnormality, and that he was physically and sexually abused there, were not contradicted. It was also not contradicted that Mr Barrett was able to read on admission to Lota but not to write and had received no further education there. It was also uncontradicted that Mr Barrett developed severe alcoholism and depression from early adult life which was professionally diagnosed as having been caused by the abuses suffered at Lota and that he was psychologically inhibited from disclosing abuses until 1997.
Mr Justice De Valera said he was satisfied that the defendants are "concurrent wrongdoers" within the provisions of section 2 of the Civil Liability Act 1961 and that other provisions of that Act applied to the case, including section 16 which provided that, where a person suffers damage as a result of concurrent wrongs, satisfaction by any wrongdoer "shall discharge the others whether such others have been sued to judgment or not".
Section 16, when applied to this case, discharged the SHB and State defendants in circumstances where Mr Barrett's claim had been fully satisfied, the judge ruled.
ADDITIONAL:
Case may go to Supreme Court
John Downes
The man at the centre of yesterday's failed High Court challenge is considering taking his case to the Supreme Court.
John Barrett told The Irish Times he was disappointed at the decision of Mr Justice De Valera not to allow him to proceed with an action for damages against the State and Southern Health Board. The court ruled that because a previous settlement in an action brought by him against the Brothers of Charity was recorded at that time as "full and final settlement of all claims", Mr Barrett could not proceed with his separate action. "I don't think I should have lost," he said. "When that document was put in front of me I had no idea what I was signing. The case against Brother Ambrose hadn't even come up before the courts." Mr Barrett, who survives on an invalidity pension, said he did not know how he will pay the costs of his failed challenge.
He estimated there were some 2,000-3,000 survivors of abuse who cannot apply to the Residential Institutions Redress Board for compensation. But the board includes payments from both the religious orders and the State, he said. As a result, it was his belief that victims such as himself should also receive compensation from the State. "As far as I'm concerned the Government has broken its agreement with survivors," he said. "The religious have kept their side of the agreement, I've been paid by them. But as far as I'm concerned the Government have not.
"It is the Government at the end of the day who took me from my home in the middle of the night and sent me to Lota."
2004 Nine-year Garda inquiry into abuse at boys' home
Mary Carolan
A man whose life was blighted after he was seriously physically and sexually abused at a residential school operated by the Brothers of Charity cannot proceed with an action for damages against the State and Southern Health Board (SHB), the High Court has decided.
Because a settlement of £28,000, secured by John Barrett (53) in a 1999 action brought by him against the Brothers of Charity, was recorded at that time as "full and final settlement of all claims", he could not now proceed with his action against the Southern Health Board and the State, Mr Justice Éamon de Valera ruled yesterday.The 1999 settlement was made without admission of liability. In his action against the health board and State, Mr Barrett, The Ballagh, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, claimed the health authorities and the State failed to properly inspect or inquire into what was going on at Our Lady of Good Counsel school at Lota, Glanmire, Cork. Moreover, he claimed his experiences there blighted his life, leading to problems with drink, depression and sexual relationships.
Although his parents were then still alive, he was admitted to Lota on the application of the Cork Health Authority in 1961 at the age of nine after he was mitching from school where he was being allegedly beaten for failing to write with his right hand. He claimed he was subject to serious and frequent sexual abuse until he left Lota at the age of 16. The abuse included being buggered on three or four nights a week for two- to three-hour periods each night, he claimed. A Brother Ambrose, also known as James Kelly, had been convicted and sentenced to 36 years on charges relating to that abuse and also relating to abuse of other boys at Lota. Mr Barrett claimed other Brothers also abused him.
Mr Justice De Valera delivered his reserved judgment yesterday on an application - made in March 2006 - by the health board and State defendants (the Ministers for Health and Children and Education and Science, Ireland and the Attorney General) for an order dismissing the proceedings on grounds of the earlier settlement, delay, and because, they claimed, the proceedings were brought outside the legal time limits.
Mr Justice De Valera said Mr Barrett's claim against the SHB and State was initiated in July 2000. A defence was filed by the SHB in 2001 but no defence had been filed by the other defendants. The judge noted that certain facts alleged by Mr Barrett, including that he was admitted to Lota in 1961, when he was described as suffering from a mild mental subnormality, and that he was physically and sexually abused there, were not contradicted. It was also not contradicted that Mr Barrett was able to read on admission to Lota but not to write and had received no further education there. It was also uncontradicted that Mr Barrett developed severe alcoholism and depression from early adult life which was professionally diagnosed as having been caused by the abuses suffered at Lota and that he was psychologically inhibited from disclosing abuses until 1997.
Mr Justice De Valera said he was satisfied that the defendants are "concurrent wrongdoers" within the provisions of section 2 of the Civil Liability Act 1961 and that other provisions of that Act applied to the case, including section 16 which provided that, where a person suffers damage as a result of concurrent wrongs, satisfaction by any wrongdoer "shall discharge the others whether such others have been sued to judgment or not".
Section 16, when applied to this case, discharged the SHB and State defendants in circumstances where Mr Barrett's claim had been fully satisfied, the judge ruled.
ADDITIONAL:
Case may go to Supreme Court
John Downes
The man at the centre of yesterday's failed High Court challenge is considering taking his case to the Supreme Court.
John Barrett told The Irish Times he was disappointed at the decision of Mr Justice De Valera not to allow him to proceed with an action for damages against the State and Southern Health Board. The court ruled that because a previous settlement in an action brought by him against the Brothers of Charity was recorded at that time as "full and final settlement of all claims", Mr Barrett could not proceed with his separate action. "I don't think I should have lost," he said. "When that document was put in front of me I had no idea what I was signing. The case against Brother Ambrose hadn't even come up before the courts." Mr Barrett, who survives on an invalidity pension, said he did not know how he will pay the costs of his failed challenge.
He estimated there were some 2,000-3,000 survivors of abuse who cannot apply to the Residential Institutions Redress Board for compensation. But the board includes payments from both the religious orders and the State, he said. As a result, it was his belief that victims such as himself should also receive compensation from the State. "As far as I'm concerned the Government has broken its agreement with survivors," he said. "The religious have kept their side of the agreement, I've been paid by them. But as far as I'm concerned the Government have not.
"It is the Government at the end of the day who took me from my home in the middle of the night and sent me to Lota."
2004 Nine-year Garda inquiry into abuse at boys' home
Two Brothers of Charity who worked at Lota have now been jailed for abuse, writes Barry Roche . The investigation which led to yesterday's conviction and sentencing of Brother Eunan for sexual abuse at Lota in Cork began in 1995. Verder zie berichtgeving bij The Knitter
2002 Victims deplore early release of Brother
A religious brother given the longest sentence for child sex abuse in the history of the State was released from the Curragh Prison on Saturday after serving just three years of a 36-year sentence. James Kelly (76), otherwise known as Brother Ambrose, was taken from the Kildare prison by his order, the Brothers of Charity, to an unnamed institution in the State where he is to receive therapy and counselling.
The name of the institution is known only to the Brothers of Charity and Cork Circuit Criminal Court, where earlier this month Judge Patrick Moran told Kelly's victims that the Brother would, on his release, be housed in a place where he would not be in a position to reoffend....verdere berichtgeving zie The Knitter
vrijdag, juli 13, 2007
Army silent on abuse payout - The Timaru Herald
Friday, 13 July 2007
The Salvation Army is refusing to disclose how much it paid to those abused by staff at its Temuka children's home in the 1970s, a move which has a privacy expert asking what the church has to hide. Not only is the church refusing to disclose how much it has paid out, but it is also refusing to comment on how many payouts have been made.
Church spokesman Major Ross Gower said all those who had approached it seeking compensation had now been paid out. He would not comment on the extent of the compensation.
The church had given an undertaking that it would not comment on individual compensation settlements made to those who had lived at the Bramwell Booth home.
Earlier this month Major Gower confirmed all eight complainants in last year's court case involving former home manager John Gainsford had received compensation. Gainford was sentenced to 10 years in prison on rape and indecency charges.
Some had received compensation payouts prior to the court case.
It was known the church had also made payments to others who had lived at the home when officers other than Gainsford were managing the home in the 1970s.
Refusing to disclose the number who had received compensation, or the cost to the church, was a misuse of the privacy argument, said privacy law expert Professor Paul Roth of Otago University.
"It is a matter of applying the concept (of privacy) where there is no application at all.
"The information cannot be linked to any one individual. It is information of a general sort. There are no names being mentioned."
He described the whole privacy argument being used by the church as incorrect and not applicable.
"I have long thought when people claim privacy (in such situations) it is just a lot of hogwash.
"All one can do is to draw the obvious conclusion that the Salvation Army is paying nothing; what else can one conclude? They must have something to hide if they are not disclosing this information.
"Either they are not paying any money or they are paying a joke amount of money."
Professor Roth said it was not uncommon to see such a misuse of the privacy argument.
The Catholic Church has been more forthcoming regarding sexual abuse allegations made against its leaders.
In 2002 Catholic Communications director Lyndsay Freer revealed that over the past decade 38 claims of abuse had been substantiated, dating back to the 1950s, against priests, brothers, and lay people.
Eighteen months ago it confirmed it had paid out nearly $40,000 compensation to three women over historic sexual allegations against disgraced priest Jim Consedine.
Zie rapportage parlementair onderzoek 2004: Forgotten Australians.
The Salvation Army is refusing to disclose how much it paid to those abused by staff at its Temuka children's home in the 1970s, a move which has a privacy expert asking what the church has to hide. Not only is the church refusing to disclose how much it has paid out, but it is also refusing to comment on how many payouts have been made.
Church spokesman Major Ross Gower said all those who had approached it seeking compensation had now been paid out. He would not comment on the extent of the compensation.
The church had given an undertaking that it would not comment on individual compensation settlements made to those who had lived at the Bramwell Booth home.
Earlier this month Major Gower confirmed all eight complainants in last year's court case involving former home manager John Gainsford had received compensation. Gainford was sentenced to 10 years in prison on rape and indecency charges.
Some had received compensation payouts prior to the court case.
It was known the church had also made payments to others who had lived at the home when officers other than Gainsford were managing the home in the 1970s.
Refusing to disclose the number who had received compensation, or the cost to the church, was a misuse of the privacy argument, said privacy law expert Professor Paul Roth of Otago University.
"It is a matter of applying the concept (of privacy) where there is no application at all.
"The information cannot be linked to any one individual. It is information of a general sort. There are no names being mentioned."
He described the whole privacy argument being used by the church as incorrect and not applicable.
"I have long thought when people claim privacy (in such situations) it is just a lot of hogwash.
"All one can do is to draw the obvious conclusion that the Salvation Army is paying nothing; what else can one conclude? They must have something to hide if they are not disclosing this information.
"Either they are not paying any money or they are paying a joke amount of money."
Professor Roth said it was not uncommon to see such a misuse of the privacy argument.
The Catholic Church has been more forthcoming regarding sexual abuse allegations made against its leaders.
In 2002 Catholic Communications director Lyndsay Freer revealed that over the past decade 38 claims of abuse had been substantiated, dating back to the 1950s, against priests, brothers, and lay people.
Eighteen months ago it confirmed it had paid out nearly $40,000 compensation to three women over historic sexual allegations against disgraced priest Jim Consedine.
Zie rapportage parlementair onderzoek 2004: Forgotten Australians.
maandag, juli 09, 2007
Archdiocese seeks a settlement as 500 sex abuse cases head for trial - Los Angeles Times
Na jaren obstructie door Mahony van zovele zaken is het dan haast zover, en is het de vraag: worden er deals met de slachtoffers gesloten of komt het tot rechtszaken.
Jarenlang heeft Mahony iedere mogelijkheid gebruikt om geen files openbaar te hoeven maken. Het zou om persoonlijke informatie gaan.
Er werd getracht het Grand Jury onderzoek te boycotten, maar stap voor stap werd in rechszaken afgedwongen dat die files er moesten komen.
Tot uiteindelijk nog jarenlange uitstel door Mahony welke dit over de laatste 16 files uitvocht tot aan het Hoogste Gerechtshof aan toe.
Hij verloor.
Met Mahony verloor de Kerk behalve kapitalen aan advocaten en procedures vertrouwen.
Al jaren terug voorspelde Father Thomas Doyle: wacht maar, tot LA in de openbaarheid komt. Daar verbleekt de situatie rond kardinaal Law bij.
En nu al is, niet in de laatste plaats door het Grand Jury onderzoek en Mahony's laatste gevechtsjaren om de uitspraken van het Hoogste Rechtscollege, dat hij ook daarin gelijk te krijgen.
Jarenlange druk en minachting voor slachtoffers, ( en daders! ) onder het mom van persoonlijke files, voor een cover-up van dat wat duidelijk moet maken wat de kerk en de verantwoordelijke hierarchie wist. Hoe het mogelijk werd gemaakt, regelmatig tientallen jaren, dat misbruikers hun gang konden gaan, overgeplaatst werden, er gezwegen werd, er nieuwe slachtoffers gemaakt konden worden.
Stapje voor stapje werd Mahony, door slachtoffers en verzekeringen, juridisch gedwongen tot openheid.
En nu zijn het opnieuw de slachtoffers die onder zware druk worden gezet.
Door de Kerk, die - KASSA - weet dat zij alle belangen heeft bij het sluiten van deals, daar na jaren obstructie en minachting van dat wat slachtoffers nodig hebben, haast probeert achter te zetten.
Afkoopsommen of worden het toch rechtszaken en daarmee de openbaarheid en de langverwachtte en gehoopte openheid en duidelijkheid over wat de Kerk wist?
-De verzekeringen hebben alle belangen bij de rechtszaken,
-(een deel van) de kerkelijke hierarchie, waaronder zeker kardinaal Mahony over zijn rol en die van zijn voorganger, bij deals
-slachtoffers,uit het verleden en die toekomst, zelfs daders en het Recht , volgens velen in de Kerk ook die Kerk, hebben alle belang bij de rechtszaken en de duidelijkheid, dus de maatregelen die hiermee gevonden kunnen worden voor de toekomst.
- En op de achtergrond nog steeds die vraag naar de kennis, betrokkenheid en verantwoordelijkheid van Rome. Daarmee naar de juridische aanprakelijkheid.
Jarenlang heeft Mahony iedere mogelijkheid gebruikt om geen files openbaar te hoeven maken. Het zou om persoonlijke informatie gaan.
Er werd getracht het Grand Jury onderzoek te boycotten, maar stap voor stap werd in rechszaken afgedwongen dat die files er moesten komen.
Tot uiteindelijk nog jarenlange uitstel door Mahony welke dit over de laatste 16 files uitvocht tot aan het Hoogste Gerechtshof aan toe.
Hij verloor.
Met Mahony verloor de Kerk behalve kapitalen aan advocaten en procedures vertrouwen.
Al jaren terug voorspelde Father Thomas Doyle: wacht maar, tot LA in de openbaarheid komt. Daar verbleekt de situatie rond kardinaal Law bij.
En nu al is, niet in de laatste plaats door het Grand Jury onderzoek en Mahony's laatste gevechtsjaren om de uitspraken van het Hoogste Rechtscollege, dat hij ook daarin gelijk te krijgen.
Jarenlange druk en minachting voor slachtoffers, ( en daders! ) onder het mom van persoonlijke files, voor een cover-up van dat wat duidelijk moet maken wat de kerk en de verantwoordelijke hierarchie wist. Hoe het mogelijk werd gemaakt, regelmatig tientallen jaren, dat misbruikers hun gang konden gaan, overgeplaatst werden, er gezwegen werd, er nieuwe slachtoffers gemaakt konden worden.
Stapje voor stapje werd Mahony, door slachtoffers en verzekeringen, juridisch gedwongen tot openheid.
En nu zijn het opnieuw de slachtoffers die onder zware druk worden gezet.
Door de Kerk, die - KASSA - weet dat zij alle belangen heeft bij het sluiten van deals, daar na jaren obstructie en minachting van dat wat slachtoffers nodig hebben, haast probeert achter te zetten.
Afkoopsommen of worden het toch rechtszaken en daarmee de openbaarheid en de langverwachtte en gehoopte openheid en duidelijkheid over wat de Kerk wist?
-De verzekeringen hebben alle belangen bij de rechtszaken,
-(een deel van) de kerkelijke hierarchie, waaronder zeker kardinaal Mahony over zijn rol en die van zijn voorganger, bij deals
-slachtoffers,uit het verleden en die toekomst, zelfs daders en het Recht , volgens velen in de Kerk ook die Kerk, hebben alle belang bij de rechtszaken en de duidelijkheid, dus de maatregelen die hiermee gevonden kunnen worden voor de toekomst.
- En op de achtergrond nog steeds die vraag naar de kennis, betrokkenheid en verantwoordelijkheid van Rome. Daarmee naar de juridische aanprakelijkheid.
En wat kost de Rooms Katholieke Kerkelijke moraal ? de algemen vraag geworden.
Toen Doyle (1985) met zijn alarmerende rapport aan de bisschoppen kwam, hen dit daarmee voorrekendend,
werd hem lacherig gemijterd duidelijk gemaakt dat het toch ondenkbaar was dat slachtoffers de Kerk een proces zouden aandoen.
Dat ondenkbare is mogelijk gebleken.
Dat ondenkbare groeit, nog steeds. Als je niet uitkijkt komt het mbt. de VS zelfs van verveling m'n neus uit.
Wat er rond LA , Mahony en diens voorganger(s), de komende maanden, ongetwijfeld naar buiten zal komen, is, helaas, niet meer ondenkbaar.
Het zal ongetwijfeld de reeds bekende zaken en patronen slechts bevestigen.
O'Grady's verhaal, de rechtszaak en de documentaire Deliver us from Evil hebben een al bekend patroon al zo duidelijk gemaakt, zoals de zaak tegen Sylvester, Geoghan en zovele anderen.
Het Grand Jury rapport.
Krankzinning en sinister jezelf af te vragen of je er nog geschokt door zal zijn....
Inmiddels is ook de vraag naar de kennis en verantwoordelijkheid van Rome niet meer ondenkbaar. De vraag lijkt alleen nog maar: hoe en wanneer? En dan?
Maar waar deze individuele slachtoffers,hun families en gezinnen, na al die jaren van minachting, het meest belang bij zullen hebben?
Uiteindelijk zijn zij degene die -en dat al jaren en jaren lang- het meest betalen!
En dat is, met of zonder deal, met of zonder rechtzaak, diep en diep misdadig!
*******************
The payout could go as high as half a billion dollars, the largest in the country.
'The day of reckoning is near,' says a lawyer for plaintiffs.
By Joe MozingoTimes Staff Writer
July 9, 2007
After more than four years of negotiation, pressure is mounting fast to settle some 500 claims that the Los Angeles Archdiocese failed to protect children from clergy abuse, before the first trial begins this month.
"We know it's soon. We know it's inevitable. The day of reckoning is drawing near," said Jeffrey Anderson, a Minnesota lawyer who represents hundreds of alleged victims of clergy abuse in California and elsewhere.
The potential payout is staggering, at more than half a billon dollars by far the largest of any diocese in the country resulting from the Roman Catholic Church abuse scandal.
Already, the archdiocese, insurers and several Catholic orders have agreed to pay more than $114 million to settle 86 claims.If the remaining cases go to trial, jury awards could be much larger, particularly when claimants seek punitive damages.
A jury in New York, for instance, ordered the Diocese of Rockville Centre in May to pay $5.9 million to one victim and $5.5 million to another. If an agreement can be reached before trial in Los Angeles, victims are expected to garner an average of slightly more than $1 million each, based on the cases that have been settled so far.
Going to trial would also force top officials, including Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, to testify publicly about what they knew about the abuse and what, if anything, they did to stop it.
Mahony is expected to be called to the stand in the first trial, involving two decades of alleged abuse by the late Father Clinton Hagenbach, who died in 1987, two years after Mahony became archbishop in Los Angeles. Thirteen more trials are scheduled to begin by January.
"It's still my goal to reach an agreement before the first trials begin, but many, many pieces have to come together before that can happen," said J. Michael Hennigan, who represents Mahony and the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
Hennigan declined to give details or comment further about the case because it "might have an impact on the ongoing discussions.
"Mahony has waged a protracted court battle to keep church personnel documents from victims, their lawyers, prosecutors and the public. But the courts ruled in a Los Angeles case that grand juries investigating crimes and civil lawyers preparing for trial were entitled to the information.
Attorneys for the accusers say any settlement agreement would include a stipulation that the church release the files publicly. However, individual clergy could contest the disclosures on privacy grounds.
Settlement negotiations have been complex, with more than 60 attorneys seeking differing sums for more than 570 claims of abuse occurring over 70 years by 221 accused perpetrators.
The church has blamed its insurers for failing to pay the major share of the settlements.
The insurers, in turn, have questioned whether Mahony willfully withheld information about the abuse from them and say they don't have to pay if the church officials' actions were criminal.
"This could be a Katrina moment for the insurers," said Pamela D. Hayes, an attorney who served on the National Lay Review Board, established by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to study the abuse scandal. "They're fighting
to the very end.
"In Orange County, insurers and the Diocese of Orange ended a similar standoff in 2005 when they agreed to split a $100-million settlement for 90 victims roughly 50-50.
But in San Diego earlier this year, Bishop Robert H. Brom announced that his diocese would file for bankruptcy rather than go to trial, putting the cases there on hold while a judge examines diocesan finances.
A Times analysis published in December 2006 showed that the Los Angeles Archdiocese has vast wealth, owning at least 1,600 properties with an estimated value of $4 billion.
Victims groups blame the Los Angeles church for continuing to stonewall.
"The fact that this trial [Hagenbach] would be the first ever priest-pedophile abuse trial in Los Angeles is very telling," said Mary Grant, Western regional director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.
"I think if there is a way to delay this trial, we believe Cardinal Mahony will use whatever tactics he can to keep the crimes hidden to keep him from having to testify in open court about what he and church officials knew and what they failed to do to protect kids from predators," Grant said.
Tod Tamberg, Mahony's spokesman, said, "The vast majority of these cases predate Mahony, and many of them have nothing in their files."
In the case of Hagenbach, he noted that Mahony moved from the Stockton Diocese to Los Angeles in 1985, less than two years before the priest died.
"There were 2,000 priests back then," Tamberg said. "He didn't know any of these guys. And the first complaint about Hagenbach came in 2002."
Tamberg said that the archdiocese has been working to settle the cases but that their sheer number and the complexity of the litigation in Los Angeles are far greater than in any other diocese in the nation.
He noted that it is not yet clear even what the exact number of claims against the church is.
"Complex negotiations do take time, yes, especially when you're a Catholic church with limited resources," he said.
Mahony wants to minimize any loss of services to parishioners, Tamberg added. "Our parishes and schools are not there to produce revenue for us. They're there to educate children and provide spiritual welfare for the Catholic people.
"Many observers expect a settlement before or during the Hagenbach trial, either a so-called global settlement for all the cases or the first of a string of settlements. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Haley Fromholz last week pushed the trial back a week, saying there were not enough potential jurors after the Fourth of July holiday.
But the delay prompted some observers to speculate that the parties were on the verge of a settlement and needed a few more days.
Jury selection is set to begin July 17.
Anderson, the plaintiffs' lawyer, said he doubted Mahony would want to wait for opening arguments."That's an opportunity for us to lay out a long, sordid scenario," said Anderson. "Their exposure is extraordinary."
joe.mozingo@latimes.com
Clergy sexual abuse settlements
zaterdag, juli 07, 2007
Prison Video of Response to Attack Is Seen Online - New York Times
By PAM BELLUCK
Published: July 7, 2007
BOSTON, July 6 — To the annals of strange Internet postings, add this one: surveillance video of guards at a federal prison struggling to open the door to a cell in which one prisoner is killing another prisoner — a convicted pedophile priest.
Kardinaal Bernard Law, januari 2002, Boston TV channel5
John J. Geoghan, a defrocked priest who was killed by a fellow inmate.
guards trying to get into the cell.
The victim was John J. Geoghan a defrocked priest who became one of the most notorious symbols of the clergy sexual abuse crisis that erupted in Boston in 2002.
The killer was Joseph Druce, who was already serving a life sentence for murder when he killed Mr. Geoghan in August 2003 at the Souza-Baranowski maximum security prison. Mr. Druce, who was convicted of the murder last year, said he strangled and stomped the 68-year-old Mr. Geoghan to death because God selected him to kill pedophiles.
A 10-minute video of the scene outside the cell during the killing was posted on YouTube last month. It remains on the site, and on Thursday, The Boston Herald received a handwritten note that informed the newspaper of the posted video and said, “The truth about officers allowing J. G. to die through their neglect.” The note was signed “Joseph Lee Druce.”
A spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections, Diane Wiffin, said officials were investigating how the video made its way onto the Internet.
“Inmates have no Internet access,” Ms. Wiffin said. “They do not have access to security tapes.”
Under similarly mysterious circumstances in 2005, The Herald obtained a security video showing Mr. Druce acting out how he killed Mr. Geoghan and jammed the cell door with a paperback book.
The YouTube video does not show the murder or anything that took place inside the cell. It shows officers trying for several minutes to pry open the door, and ultimately dragging what appears to be Mr. Druce out of the cell and pinning him to the floor.
John LaChance, a lawyer who represented Mr. Druce at trial, and Gregory Schubert, a lawyer currently representing Mr. Druce on an expected appeal, both said they had no idea how the video was posted, and did not know whether or how Mr. Druce or family members would have had access to the tape.
Mr. LaChance said the video was one of several prison surveillance tapes played in court during either the trial or a suppression hearing. He said he had been given copies of the tapes and at one point had delivered them to the prison so Mr. Druce could watch them.
But he said Mr. Druce had objected to the rules under which he could watch them, with corrections officers preventing him from controlling the television or rewinding the tapes to certain sections.
“He was paranoid about them observing what he was observing,” Mr. LaChance said, because he believed “that would project his defense.”
The tapes were returned to Mr. LaChance, who later forwarded them to Mr. Schubert. He added, “I don’t know why everybody’s making such a huge deal of it since it was played in court.”
The YouTube video does not appear to show egregious or inappropriate behavior by the officers, and the intent of posting it is unclear.
When the murder occurred, a state investigation found problems with the prison system, including that only one guard was monitoring the 26-inmate unit at the time of the killing and that cell doors were left open while inmates were taking lunch trays to a collection point. Several correction officials, including the correction commissioner, were removed from their jobs.
Ms. Wiffin said officials were looking into the possibility of asking YouTube to take the video down.
A YouTube spokeswoman, Jaime Schopflin, said that the company did not comment on specific videos, but that videos could be removed if they violated the company’s content policy.
Published: July 7, 2007
BOSTON, July 6 — To the annals of strange Internet postings, add this one: surveillance video of guards at a federal prison struggling to open the door to a cell in which one prisoner is killing another prisoner — a convicted pedophile priest.
Kardinaal Bernard Law, januari 2002, Boston TV channel5
John J. Geoghan, a defrocked priest who was killed by a fellow inmate.
guards trying to get into the cell.
The victim was John J. Geoghan a defrocked priest who became one of the most notorious symbols of the clergy sexual abuse crisis that erupted in Boston in 2002.
The killer was Joseph Druce, who was already serving a life sentence for murder when he killed Mr. Geoghan in August 2003 at the Souza-Baranowski maximum security prison. Mr. Druce, who was convicted of the murder last year, said he strangled and stomped the 68-year-old Mr. Geoghan to death because God selected him to kill pedophiles.
A 10-minute video of the scene outside the cell during the killing was posted on YouTube last month. It remains on the site, and on Thursday, The Boston Herald received a handwritten note that informed the newspaper of the posted video and said, “The truth about officers allowing J. G. to die through their neglect.” The note was signed “Joseph Lee Druce.”
A spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections, Diane Wiffin, said officials were investigating how the video made its way onto the Internet.
“Inmates have no Internet access,” Ms. Wiffin said. “They do not have access to security tapes.”
Under similarly mysterious circumstances in 2005, The Herald obtained a security video showing Mr. Druce acting out how he killed Mr. Geoghan and jammed the cell door with a paperback book.
The YouTube video does not show the murder or anything that took place inside the cell. It shows officers trying for several minutes to pry open the door, and ultimately dragging what appears to be Mr. Druce out of the cell and pinning him to the floor.
John LaChance, a lawyer who represented Mr. Druce at trial, and Gregory Schubert, a lawyer currently representing Mr. Druce on an expected appeal, both said they had no idea how the video was posted, and did not know whether or how Mr. Druce or family members would have had access to the tape.
Mr. LaChance said the video was one of several prison surveillance tapes played in court during either the trial or a suppression hearing. He said he had been given copies of the tapes and at one point had delivered them to the prison so Mr. Druce could watch them.
But he said Mr. Druce had objected to the rules under which he could watch them, with corrections officers preventing him from controlling the television or rewinding the tapes to certain sections.
“He was paranoid about them observing what he was observing,” Mr. LaChance said, because he believed “that would project his defense.”
The tapes were returned to Mr. LaChance, who later forwarded them to Mr. Schubert. He added, “I don’t know why everybody’s making such a huge deal of it since it was played in court.”
The YouTube video does not appear to show egregious or inappropriate behavior by the officers, and the intent of posting it is unclear.
When the murder occurred, a state investigation found problems with the prison system, including that only one guard was monitoring the 26-inmate unit at the time of the killing and that cell doors were left open while inmates were taking lunch trays to a collection point. Several correction officials, including the correction commissioner, were removed from their jobs.
Ms. Wiffin said officials were looking into the possibility of asking YouTube to take the video down.
A YouTube spokeswoman, Jaime Schopflin, said that the company did not comment on specific videos, but that videos could be removed if they violated the company’s content policy.
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