Clergy-Abuse Victims Group Urges D.A. to Investigate Orange Diocese

Armed with newly released church documents, advocates for victims of clergy sexual abuse asked the Orange County district attorney Friday to open an investigation into whether Roman Catholic officials acted criminally by covering for molesting priests and failing to report their crimes to authorities.

“We ask you to protect kids by setting an example for those who would protect child molesters,” wrote three officials of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in a letter to Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas.

More than 11,000 pages of documents were released over the past two weeks as part of a record $100-million settlement between the Diocese of Orange and 90 alleged victims of molestation.

The documents show that church officials moved known molesters from parish to parish and diocese to diocese, never told parishioners that a sexual predator was in their midst and never told authorities about the crimes.

In 1985, for instance, church officials received a psychologist’s report containing an admission by Father Siegfried Widera that he had molested more than 10 boys in Orange County. Church leaders kept the information to themselves.

In 2004, the district attorney’s office rejected a similar request by the advocacy group, stating that there was insufficient evidence to “prove criminal culpability” among church leaders and that the statute of limitations had expired on the allegations.

A spokesman for the district attorney said Friday that the group’s letter had been received and will be reviewed.