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SANTA ROSA
Catholic**** bishop may face jail****
John Coté, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, August 26, 2006
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office has recommended criminal charges be filed against Santa Rosa Bishop Daniel Walsh for failing to timely report evidence of sexual abuse by a Sonoma priest who has since fled the country.
“Based upon our investigation, the evidence indicates that this case is worthy of district attorney review,” Lt. Dave Edmonds said in a written statement released Friday. It is up to the Sonoma County district attorney’s office to decide whether it can prove Walsh broke the law and whether there is “sufficient evidence and circumstances to sustain a conviction,” Edmonds said.
District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua could not be reached for comment.
If prosecutors decide to charge Walsh, the case would appear to mark the first time a U.S. Catholic Church official has faced criminal prosecution for failing to properly report sexual abuse.
It would also be the first case where a U.S. bishop was charged in the sexual abuse scandal that has marred the Catholic Church for more than a decade and seen priests from Massachusetts to California face criminal prosecution, a victims’ rights official said.
“The very root cause of this is because bishops aided and abetted or transferred priests they knew were molesters and perpetuated the abuse – somewhere that’s got to stop,” said Mary Grant, the Western regional director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “I hope that law enforcement, for the first time, (charges a bishop) because this is the root cause.”
Walsh and an attorney for the diocese could not be reached for comment. In a statement posted earlier on the Diocese of Santa Rosa Web site, the bishop apologized for not immediately reporting suspected abuse by the Rev. Francisco Xavier Ochoa, 68, but said that his delay was “an error in judgment” and not intended to allow Ochoa time to escape.
“The best way to renew the healing process and rebuild a spirit of understanding is to admit my own personal fault, and accept any consequences that may ensue,” Walsh wrote. “If I am found guilty for not taking immediate action, I will accept whatever punishment is imposed.”
State law requires clergy, teachers and others to report suspected child abuse to a law enforcement agency “immediately or as soon as is practicably possible” and then follow up with a written statement within 36 hours. Failure to do so is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine.
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/26/BAGV7KPJJL1.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea
Catholic**** bishop may face jail****
John Coté, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, August 26, 2006
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office has recommended criminal charges be filed against Santa Rosa Bishop Daniel Walsh for failing to timely report evidence of sexual abuse by a Sonoma priest who has since fled the country.
“Based upon our investigation, the evidence indicates that this case is worthy of district attorney review,” Lt. Dave Edmonds said in a written statement released Friday. It is up to the Sonoma County district attorney’s office to decide whether it can prove Walsh broke the law and whether there is “sufficient evidence and circumstances to sustain a conviction,” Edmonds said.
District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua could not be reached for comment.
If prosecutors decide to charge Walsh, the case would appear to mark the first time a U.S. Catholic Church official has faced criminal prosecution for failing to properly report sexual abuse.
It would also be the first case where a U.S. bishop was charged in the sexual abuse scandal that has marred the Catholic Church for more than a decade and seen priests from Massachusetts to California face criminal prosecution, a victims’ rights official said.
“The very root cause of this is because bishops aided and abetted or transferred priests they knew were molesters and perpetuated the abuse – somewhere that’s got to stop,” said Mary Grant, the Western regional director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “I hope that law enforcement, for the first time, (charges a bishop) because this is the root cause.”
Walsh and an attorney for the diocese could not be reached for comment. In a statement posted earlier on the Diocese of Santa Rosa Web site, the bishop apologized for not immediately reporting suspected abuse by the Rev. Francisco Xavier Ochoa, 68, but said that his delay was “an error in judgment” and not intended to allow Ochoa time to escape.
“The best way to renew the healing process and rebuild a spirit of understanding is to admit my own personal fault, and accept any consequences that may ensue,” Walsh wrote. “If I am found guilty for not taking immediate action, I will accept whatever punishment is imposed.”
State law requires clergy, teachers and others to report suspected child abuse to a law enforcement agency “immediately or as soon as is practicably possible” and then follow up with a written statement within 36 hours. Failure to do so is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine.
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/26/BAGV7KPJJL1.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea
