Sex abuse means never having to say 'sorry'
Church spokesperson attacks ‘City Beat’ for revealing Cardinal Mahony’s effort to block Iraq War vet’s sex-abuse claim
Look out kid, it’s somethin’ you did God knows when, but you’re doin’ it again –Bob Dylan
Several weeks ago, City Beat ran an article detailing the legal efforts of Cardinal Roger Mahony’s Los Angeles Archdiocese to deny a man his day in court.
In that story, we detailed the case of Iraq war veteran John TH Doe, as he is identified in court documents. Doe claims he was molested by an L.A.-area Catholic priest as a teenager, but was on active military duty when a 2003 legal window opened that would have allowed him to file suit. Federal law grants extensions to military personnel involved in legal battles, but Mahony’s team argued that the law didn’t apply to Doe.
That February 4 story, “Mahony to Iraq War Vet: Screw Yourself,” generated a powerful response from readers, most of them outraged by the Archdiocese’s cynical legal tactics.
“Leave it up to Cardinal Mahony and his lawyers to use every legal tactic he can find, to re-abuse victims,” wrote Judy Jones in the comments section of LACityBeat.com.
“Because of the protection [Mahony] gave those sexually predatory priests the blood of hundreds of children is on your hands and no amount of rancid oil is going to wash that blood away,” wrote Victoria G. “Mahony, may you hear those screams in your sleep for the rest of your life, and beyond.”
One commenter wasn’t quite so supportive. Los Angeles Archdiocese spokesman Tod Tamberg alleged a litany of errors in our story and demanded its retraction.
“Neither Cardinal Mahony nor the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are named in the lawsuit,” Tamberg wrote. “The Archdiocese merely appeared at a hearing called to determine whether there are enough facts to allow the man’s complaint to proceed at all.”
Could we really have screwed up that badly?
As it turns out, no.
“Tamberg is parsing words,” says John TH Doe’s lawyer, Vince Finaldi. “In molestation suits where the plaintiff is over the age of 26, defendants can’t actually be named until the discovery period of the trial, when the judge issues what’s called a certificate of corroborative fact. Until that point the plaintiffs are given Doe names.
“For Tamberg to suggest that neither the Archdiocese nor Cardinal Mahony are defendants in this case is completely disingenuous. I can confirm that both Mahony and the Archdiocese are defendants in this suit.”
And you don’t have to take Finaldi’s word for it. A “Memorandum of Points and Authorities,” filed by Hennigan, Bennett & Dorman, the Archdiocesan law firm, states that Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” “pretty much sums up the complaint against the Los Angeles Archdiocese ... .”
Never mind Tamberg’s semantic gymnastics: City Beat never reported that the Archdiocese was “named” in the suit, simply that the Archdiocese was using an obscure legal maneuver to keep John TH Doe out of court – which they are.
And using a Bob Dylan lyric to help throw out a war veteran’s molestation case? Not cool.
Tamberg’s other claims?
It’s true, as Tamberg asserts, that the alleged molestation took place in Orange County. We never said otherwise. In fact, the priest in question was trained in the L.A. diocese, and John TH Doe isn’t the first person he stands accused of molesting. What’s critical, Finaldi says, is Doe’s suit will show the archdiocese had knowledge of the priest’s character defects and did nothing to stop him.
As for Tamberg’s assertion that City Beat was in conversation with the defense, we plead guilty. That’s called reporting – and it’s why Finaldi’s name appears in the original article. Lee Potts, the Archdiocesan lawyer on the case, didn’t return our calls for comment or we would have spoken with him, too.
If he had called us back, he could have discussed perhaps Tamberg’s most ridiculous critique – John TH Doe is lying about his molestation.
We never wrote that John TH Doe was molested. That’s for a jury to figure out. We merely argued that he deserved his day in court.
Finally, Tamberg raised, without evidence, the possibility that Doe wasn’t really an Iraq War vet. Finaldi says John TH Doe flew missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo as well as Iraq. He’s a recipient of the Global War on Terror Service Medal, among more than a dozen other citations.
After demanding a retraction from us, Tamberg didn’t respond to a week’s worth of calls for this story.
Needless to say, City Beat won’t be retracting anything.
Published: 02/25/2009
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During Cardinal Roger Mahony's Annual Ash Wednesday Address at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Mahony, true to form, attempted to outdo the Sufferings of Our Crucified Lord and Savior; and instead turn this sudo religious event into his (Mahony's) own personal, "Pity Party". This is not as far fetched as one might think since Mahony once referred the sexual victimization of children by Roman Catholic Chlergy as his, "Cross To Bear". But, today, Ash Wednesday, 2009, it was all about Mahony, "Embracing New and Wearisome Burdens". Well, Roger, better to do your suffering on a hill in downtown Los Angeles in your own, well appointed, private luxury apartment, located in the lavish rectory of your multi-million dollar cathedral complex, eating and driniking the best that money (other people's money) can buy. But, Roger, long ago, there was another hill, Golgotha, "The Place of the Skulls", where a Good and Holy Man (The BEST That Ever Was Or Ever Would Be) was nailed to a Cross and left to die for the sins of Mankind. Roger, We Sexually Victimized, Broken Hearted, Broken Spirited, Lost Children of the Church, KNOW You For What You Are. You Might Have Other People Fooled, But You Don't Fool Us; And Above All, YOU DON'T FOOL GOD.
Rog long ago left GOD for Lucifer.
The Gates Of Hell do not have to prevail agaisnt Christ's Church, Hell has a direct agent in the Curia = Roger M. Mahony (along with at least 2,000 other red hats and miters out of 3,400 globally)!
For those who like to read, check out over 100+ recently factual published books on the Mahony Crime Spree and Curia Racketeering, Obstruction Of Justice, Perjury, Child Assault & Endangerment, Enabling, Aid & Abetting, Perpetrating, Kiddnapping, Murder, Murder For Hire, Fraud, Tax Evasion, Embezzlement, Accessory To Many Litanies Of Other Felonies, at: www.amazon.com, or for FREE at your local public libraries...
Honest salient, & cogent, authors include: Roman Catholic Bishops Jeffery Robinson (Australia), & Thomas Gumbleton (USA), as well as Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, of Milano, Italy, (in the UK's THE TABLET - 2008).
Other factual authors include: Fr. Richard Sipe, Dr. Leon Podles, Dr. Robert Grant, MD, Phillip Lawler, Jason Berry, David Yallop, Attorney & Legal Scholar Marci Hamilton, Fr. Thomas Reese, SJ, Fr/Dr Howard Bleichner, SS, & Fr/Dr/Canon Lawyer Thomas Doyle, OP, to name but a very few.
OLA needs to be demolished, and the earth salted (alla Carthage during the Punic Wars).
The place is too evil, too demonic, too Mahonyesque, to be even considered a place of worship, unless of course the First Church Of Satan might be considering a new location?
The architectual white lettered translucent tape, stuck on Roger's crypt head stone (and not removed for over 6 months) despite daily hard sell tours of the "skyboxes" downstairs at OLA/The Mahal, says a great deal about how Roger is regarded while still alive.
The simple piece of tape, placed over the blank 'date of death' on Roger's headstone read: " NOT SOON ENOUGH"...
"STOP DONATING LAITY!" as St. Peter Damien correctly asserted.
To donate any monies, for any reason to the incarnate evil of Roger M. Mahony is indeed a MORTAL SIN!
Ciao e pace,
Albino Luciani,
MUDERED POPE*
*'IN GOD'S NAME' by David Yallop = 100% True!
From Tod Tamberg, Director of Media Relations, Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Matt Fleisher throws up a wall of words, hoping that something will stick. Nothing does. He continues to try to create the impression that there's a lawsuit against the Archdiocese. Fact remains: there isn't one.
Lawyer Finaldi validated my point that neither the Archdiocese or Cardinal Mahony is named in the complaint when he said, “defendants can’t actually be named until the discovery period of the trial.” He also confirmed my point that the complaint is merely at the hearing stage when he added that the judge has yet to issue – and may not issue – “a certificate of corroborative fact.”
Inexplicably, Finaldi then boldly goes where he just said both he and the Court have not gone, by personally “confirming” that the cardinal and archdiocese are defendants in the suit. Huh? There’s that little issue of Court that stands between reality and Mr. Finaldi’s personal “confirmation.”
As for the plaintiff’s Iraqi veteran status, I simply observed that the original complaint never mentioned any word about Iraq. That’s true, Mr. Fleisher. Read the complaint. And if the plaintiff’s war status is true and important, than why isn’t it mentioned in the complaint?
Interesting that Fleisher tip-toes around addressing what is perhaps the most intriguing question: Why did the plaintiff allege in his original complaint that the priest only “tried to touch” him? Later, when he discovered that this didn’t constitute sexual abuse, the complaint was amended to say that he was groped? Again, Mr. Fleisher, if you’d read the actual complaint, you’d have discovered that right after the groping allegation, the complaint still retains the words “tried to touch.”
But let’s not let facts get in the way of a good press release, Mr. Fleisher. John Manly’s law firm has a trusting and easy-to-convince friend in you.
There's right and there's wrong and there's a big area of gray between.
But when it comes to sexual molestation of children and those incapable of giving informed consent, there is only wrong.
No wonder people turn away from the church and to other faiths or none at all- the supposed good guys in the funny white hats are just as willing to lie and finagle their way out of trouble as any immature twit.
Some idjits actually think such acts are sexual in nature as well as commission instead of the head-job they really are.
And inappropriate touching is a molestation of the person. Ask any woman who was groped against her will. I was- by a lawyer against pornography!
Hypocrites all- when's the Mothership due?
Roger Mahony is personally responsible for the enabling, aid & abetting, obstruction of justice, perjury, racketeering, endangerment, and accessory to assault, in well over 1,000+ cases of minors in California, over at least 30 years, in the diocese of Fresno, Stockton, & the Archdiocese of Los Angeles; ALL on Rog's watch!
Roger Mahony is a liar and thief, having diverted and stolen over $1.5 billion CA dollars, that is documented (tax free), in his ongoing criminal activities from laity offetory plate donations, squandered and sold off assets, money laundering, fraud, all at laity cost & expense, as well as massively hiked insurance liability premiums imposed on the laity in each parish, plus lawyers bills, hush monies, and settlements, for the sole purpose of protecting his own demonic hide.
Want to know why there are still over 400+ unsettled pedophiles cases in the LA Archdiocese and Regious Orders during Roger's office tenure? Look no further than Roger M. Mahony, Master Pedophile Enabler.
From Vince W. Finaldi, Esq., Manly & Stewart
Mr. Tamberg chose to direct a portion of his attack towards me and my client. As such, I feel a brief rebuttal is in order. Mr. Tamberg and I have never met, and have never had the pleasure of exchanging words. Mr. Tamberg has never met my client, and is not privy to details of the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of Father Harris. Mr. Tamberg is not a lawyer. As such, the deep animosity he seems to harbor towards me and my client, the implication that he knows the details of the current case, and his purported knowledge of the inner-workings of California’s civil system, are perplexing to say the very least. He is the spokesman for Cardinal Mahony-who is currently under criminal investigation by a Federal grand jury, in relation to his involvement of the clergy sexual abuse scandal. The directives Mr. Tamberg has received are transparent, and his purposeful attacks are directly contrary to the message of healing, compassion and understanding his employer advertises for donations.
Although he is not a lawyer, Mr. Tamberg will be held accountable for his misstatements of the Archdiocese’s status as a defendant in this action, because of his position as the Director of Media Relations for the Archdiocese. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles is indeed a defendant in the action, and was served through Mr. Randolph E. Steiner, the Archdiocese’s Agent for Service of Process, on April 4, 2008, at 9:55 a.m. Whether the Archdiocese is named in the Complaint as a “Doe” defendant, or by its true name, does not change its status as a defendant in the action.
Mr. Tamberg's point about the case being at the “hearing” stage is meaningless, as all civil actions are in a hearing stage from inception through trial. Mr. Tamberg's statement about “that little issue of Court” standing between reality and my confirmation that the Archdiocese is a defendant is similarly meaningless, because the Court’s approval of a Certificate of Corroborative Fact does not “confirm” that a defendant exists. The filing and serving of a Complaint on the defendant does.
In short, Mr. Tamberg knows nothing about the facts of this case, the applicable law, or the ravages of Father Harris upon my clients, yet he ardently implies that the abuse never occurred. He is free to join us at my client’s deposition so that he may witness, first-hand, the horrors ravaged upon my client by Father Michael Harris. Similarly, our office maintains an open invitation whereby he he may receive full access to multiple depositions of other victims of Father Harris, who give first-hand accounts of their horrific abuse in great detail. I sincerely hope he has the intestinal fortitude to take me up on my offer–we will even provide lunch. It will lend much-needed credibility to his statements on behalf of the Archdiocese. As of right now, “meaningless” is the best way to summarize his misstatements.
Tamberg is a pathological liar. If Tod;s lips are moving, he is lying.
Tod learned his 'craft' from his boss - Rog "Mahal" Mahony.
Mahony is the single largest body count holder of destroyed (children and minors) lives, as a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, after Cardinals Torquemada & Richelieu. No small accomplishment.
Rog is the spawn of SATAN. His twin brother is not far behind. Growing up on a chicken farm in Hollywood warped these boys, very badly.
Daily verified & vetted reporting on the billions on fleeced, stolen, & diverted offetory laity plate (tax free) monies, by Mahony, in Fresono, Stockton & LA, may be read daily: at www.bishop-accountability.org/abusetrack....
The USCCB (Unremoved Sexual Criminal Cabal Bishops) & Roman "La Cosa Nostra" Curia's motto remains = ISAIAH 28:15!
Edmund Burke reminds each of us: "The only condition for the triumph of evil is for good men (or women) to do nothing!"
THE SOLUTION? "STOP DONATING LAITY!" as St. Peter Damien correctly asserted.
No Removal & Punishment Of Thousands of Curia Office Holders, As Overtly Guilty As Roger Mahony, (Bernard Law Included, Having Loot Millions For His Luxury Retirement In Roma)? No Laity Monies! It's THAT Simple!
Fiat Lux & Veritas!
Albino Luciani,
MURDERED POPE,
NOT Smiling, From Heaven