DIOCESE OF ORANGE CA

Accused Priests: 16
Total Priests: 589
Alleged Victims: 47
Cost: $4,666,000

See Cathy Lynn Grossman, Survey: More Clergy Abuse Cases Than Previously Thought (2/10/04) with AP table of data for 74 dioceses.

See the Dallas Morning News database entry on Bishop Tod Brown. The June 2002 database examined the records of bishops and identified those who had allowed accused priests to continue working or had otherwise protected priests accused of sexual abuse. The database is relevant to the bishops' "Nature and Scope" study because the bishops who prepared the surveys for the study are in many cases responsible for the "scope" of the problem.

DIOCESE OF ORANGE
NEWS RELEASE

January 10, 2004

http://www.rcbo.org/concerns/sixteen.htm

SIXTEEN PRIESTS ACCUSED AND REMOVED FROM MINISTRY REPORTED TO JOHN JAY STUDY NAMED

The Diocese of Orange reported to the John Jay College of Criminal Justice that 16 priests were accused by 47 people, according to the numbers released by Shirl Giacomi, Chancellor of the Diocese. The 16 priests represent 2.8% of the 589 clergy who have ministered in the diocese since its founding in l976. The study period ended December 31, 2002, and covers only clergy, not lay church employees.

They are: Christian Anderson, Franklin Buckman, Santino Casamino, Richard Coughlin, Robert Foley, Michael Harris, Edgardo Arrunataegui Jimenez, John Kenney, John Lenihan, Denis Lyons, Gary Pacheco, Michael Pecharich, Henry Perez, Eleuterio Ramos, Siegfried Widera. The sixteenth, who is deceased, cannot be identified per the victim’s request.

Jerome Henson was not included in our statistics for the John Jay study since the allegation naming him was made while he was serving in the Diocese of Sacramento.

Every diocese, eparchy and religious order in the U.S. is participating in this national study, commissioned by the independent National Review Board of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, to determine the number of incidents, offenders and victims of sexual abuse of minors between 1950 and 2002.

The John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York was selected because of its reputation for research and education in the areas of forensic science, criminology and human behavior.

The following is a breakdown of the numbers for the diocese. Twelve priests were removed from active ministry as a result of credible allegations. Two priests remain on administrative leave and cannot minister because their cases have not yet been adjudicated. Another priest died before the allegation was made. A religious priest left the diocese and later served as a military chaplain for 22 years before the allegation was made against him.

For further information contact
Father Joseph Fenton, SM
Director of Media Relations
(714) 282-3003 * (714) 270-3655 (cp)