July 23, 2003

STATEMENT REGARDING BREACH OF CONFIDENTIAL DELIBERATIONS IN TWO SEXUAL MISCONDUCT CASES.

At the direction of Bishop Tod Brown, a Sexual Misconduct Oversight and Review Board was established in the Diocese of Orange to review difficult cases and provide the bishop with their recommendations. It is composed of lay professionals, religious, clergy, and abuse victims. While two cases were under consideration by the board and before the board had made a recommendation to the bishop, portions of the cases were revealed to the media.

According to Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto, “Given the gravity of sexual misconduct and the effect that decisions by the Diocese would have on all concerned, we established an independent board to be thorough in its investigations and whose recommendations would be based on factual information and the thoughtful analysis of people whose expertise and experience would be brought to bear. I am saddened that a good process has been compromised.”

In one case, a priest of the Diocese of Orange was alleged to have improperly accessed pornographic sites while serving in another diocese out of state. Law enforcement was immediately notified of the allegation. Following the police investigation, no arrest was made and no charges were filed. That priest returned to the Diocese of Orange and the Diocese required that he undergo a thorough psychological evaluation and was placed on restricted ministry in an adult only environment, while his case was pending before the Sexual Misconduct Oversight and Review Board. He is not allowed to conduct public ministry in any parish and is serving in an administrative “desk job”. The priest has not been allowed Internet web access and is currently continuing in counseling.

A second case involved a lay employee of the Diocese of Orange. In April of this year, it was learned through the required fingerprinting of diocesan employees, that this individual had been convicted of lewd conduct with a 17-year-old minor many years ago. The individual served probation and underwent court-ordered counseling for rehabilitation. Several years ago the Superior Court of the State of California granted him a certificate of rehabilitation. The lay employee has said that he told his original pastor in 1987 about his past history and counseling. There is no record of this original report being made to the Diocese. He is married and the individual did not work directly with minors in his parish ministry.

Cases involving lay employees and volunteers are not taken to the bishop. Either a determination to terminate is made by the Diocese’ Human Resources director or the case is referred to the Review Board. This case presented enough questions to merit consideration by the Review Board. During the deliberative process, and before a recommendation could be made, portions of the case were revealed to the media. Subsequently the lay employee was terminated from his position.

According to Bishop Soto, “The Diocese continues to enforce a zero tolerance policy in cases of sexual misconduct with minors. However, this does not mean that we do not investigate all cases thoroughly and completely. Since our decisions and actions impact many lives, including families and whole congregations, we do not take any action arbitrarily or capriciously. We have a good policy which depends on the good faith participation of all concerned.”

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