FPO The Anderson Report Sexual Abuse in the Diocese of Fresno AndersonAdvocates.com • 310.357.2425 “For many of us, those earlier stories happened someplace else, someplace away. Now we know the truth: it happened everywhere.” ~ Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report 2018 Table of Contents Purpose & Background ...........................................................................................5 Abuse in the Diocese of Fresno .................................................................................. 7 History of the Diocese of Fresno ................................................................................ 7 Those Accused of Sexual Misconduct in the Diocese of Fresno ............................... 9 AndersonAdvocates.com • 310.357.2425 3 Attorney Advertising Those Accused of Sexual Abuse in the Diocese of Fresno Allison, William G. .......................................10 Harrison, Craig Francis ................................18 Bjorklund (Bjorkland), Brian D. ..................11 Hartz, Gerald ................................................18 Bradley, John “Jack” A. .................................11 Herdegen, Anthony G. ..................................19 Brown, Tod D. ...............................................11 Jimenez, Edgardo (Edgar) Arrunataegui .....19 Cabot, Samuel ...............................................12 Johnson, David (Dave) ..................................19 Cairns, James T. ............................................12 Kain, Stephen (Steven) .................................20 Calonge, Felix (Raymond) ............................12 Kareta, Gregory ............................................20 Campbell, Stuart B. .......................................13 LaPierre, David .............................................21 Carrier (Carrier), David (Laurian) ...............13 Leehan, Cornelius Patrick (Pedraig) ............21 Ceniza, Hermy Dave O. ................................13 Liening, Mark A. ...........................................22 Chumik, Gerald T. ........................................14 Lopez, Jorge Ortiz .........................................22 Cimmarrusti, Mario Walter .........................14 Mahony, Roger M..........................................23 Congro, Basil Peter .......................................14 McDonald, Michael ......................................23 DeDominicis, Daniel .....................................15 O’Connell, Vincent A. (J.) ..............................23 Diaz, Raul ......................................................15 Pacheco (Pecheco), Joseph ...........................24 Duffy, Dennis ................................................15 Purcell, Thomas Patrick ...............................24 Feely, Theodore W. .......................................16 Shepard, John R. ...........................................24 Flickinger, Don D. .........................................16 Slane, Anthony .............................................25 Flores, Miguel ...............................................17 Swearingen, Eric ..........................................25 Gabriel, Benjamin ........................................17 Varela, Ramon ..............................................26 Gamel, Robert ...............................................17 Garcia, Louis Aloysius ..................................18 4 AndersonAdvocates.com • 310.357.2425 Attorney Advertising Purpose & Background In 2003, the California legislature opened a one-year, retroactive window for survivors of child sexual abuse to file civil claims against their perpetrator and the institution that covered up the sexual abuse. As a result of the courage of survivors and the lawsuits brought by survivors’ attorneys, numerous lawsuits related to the employment of sexually abusive priests in California, including the Diocese of Fresno, were filed. For the first time significant numbers of survivors became plaintiffs in civil lawsuits and their attorneys were able to pry open secret church records using the civil legal process. These lawsuits resulted in the release and disclosure of the identities and histories of clerical sexual abusers, those engaged in sexual misconduct, and the release of documents and information reflecting the knowledge of institutions that covered up sexual abuse and misconduct. The Diocese of Fresno was named in multiple lawsuits for having employed sexually abusive priests. The Anderson Report on Sexual Abuse in the Diocese of Fresno contains the names of clergy associated with the Diocese of Fresno, including those of whom were assigned within or working in the geographical boundaries of the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno, before the Diocese of Fresno was formed in 1967, who have been accused of sexual misconduct. While lawsuits were filed involving many of these alleged perpetrators, the vast majority of the claims against these individuals have been settled or have not been fully evaluated in a civil or criminal court. Accordingly, the allegations should be considered just allegations and should not be considered proved or substantiated in a court of law. All individuals should be considered innocent until proven guilty. In some situations, the statute of limitations has expired preventing the cases from being heard in a court of law. It is believed that the Diocese of Fresno does not make available to the public the full history, knowledge and context of the sexually abusive clerics within the Diocese. The Anderson Report on Sexual Abuse in the Diocese of Fresno is an attempt to compile information already available to the public from various public sources including the public media, bishopaccountability.org, the Diocese’s public statements, and other sources that have attempted to chronicle this information for public use. This Anderson Report is intended to raise awareness about the important issue of clerical sexual abuse, provide the public with vital information including assignment histories, and provide awareness to survivors. The assignment histories provided are approximations which were compiled from the Official Catholic Directory, BishopAccountability.org, statements attributed to Diocesan and Religious officials, Diocesan and Religious records, and media reports.1 1The abbreviation in parenthesis following each assignment indicates the Diocese the individual was working and/or residing in at the time of the assignment. AndersonAdvocates.com • 310.357.2425 5 Attorney Advertising Supporting Fresno Sexual Abuse Survivors for Decades Jeff Anderson & Associates, P.A. Jeff Anderson & Associates pioneered the use of civil litigation to seek justice for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The attorneys have advocated for survivor rights across the country for many decades, having filed their first lawsuit on behalf of a child sexual abuse survivor in the early 1980s. In addition to seeking legal accountability, the firm has supported survivors of abuse by bringing public awareness to the cause and they have testified before numerous state legislatures endorsing reforms to the statute of limitations. Through its work, Jeff Anderson & Associates seeks to bring hope, healing, accountability, and justice to survivors of sexual abuse. In most cases, childhood sexual abuse goes unreported or victims/survivors break their silence many years after the abuse occurs. While there are many legal barriers to prosecuting those responsible for the abuse, our firm has worked to overcome these barriers for more than 30 years. As pioneers of child protection through civil litigation, we are aggressively committed to this cause and capable of handling the most complex legal issues in courts across the United States. We are smart, tough, and relentless, but the virtue that ultimately sets us apart is our compassion. We are people who feel deeply and work tirelessly in response to an unjust world. We have a reputation for being the best at what we do and that begins and ends with our ability to support, protect, and guide survivors along their journey toward justice and healing. As sexual abuse lawyers we have represented thousands of survivors of sexual abuse against individual offenders and the intuitions that harbor these offenders. We are engaged with a national network of attorneys who share our mission, and when we take a case, we exhaust every imaginable resource in order to serve our clients’ needs. Jeff Anderson Darrow Anderson Stacey Benson Molly Burke Mike Finnegan Trusha Patel Goffe Clayton Hinrichs Elin Lindstrom Josh Peck Mike Reck Nahid A. Shaikh Jennifer Stein Taylor Stippel Patrick Stoneking 6 AndersonAdvocates.com • 310.357.2425 Attorney Advertising Abuse in the Diocese of Fresno The Anderson Report on Sexual Abuse in the Diocese of Fresno is intended to be a chronology and analysis of the sexual abuse of children within the Diocese of Fresno, including a discussion of how the highest Church officials enabled the abusers and covered up crimes of sexual misconduct and abuse. The data reveals the horrifying scale of priests sexually assaulting minors from early history when the Diocese of Fresno was included within the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno to the present day. The data collected suggests the patterns and practices of Church officials, including the orchestrating of an institutional cover-up of an enormous magnitude. Perhaps most shocking among the discoveries is that some perpetrators were intentionally transferred and retained in trusted positions with direct access to children even when they were known to be abusers.