Skepticism surrounds molestation claim involving Los Angeles Cardinal

AP ^ | April 7, 2002 | KIM BACA

[grimalkin]

FRESNO, Calif. (April 7, 2002 9:19 p.m. EDT) - A pastor approached last month over sexual abuse allegations involving Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony said Sunday he believes the claims are false.

Flora Mae Hickman, 51, of Fresno, alleges she was molested by Mahony while a student at San Joaquin Memorial Catholic High School in 1969.

Hickman said she has been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and is taking medication for depression. She told The Associated Press that she was knocked unconscious while fighting with students and woke to find the "bottom" portion of her clothing removed and Mahony, then a monsignor in Fresno, "over her."

Hickman said she could not remember many details of what happened.

"She claimed that happened with 40 different youths watching. There's no way that is going to happen in front of all those people," Monsignor John Esquivel said after leading mass Sunday at St. John's Cathedral in Fresno. "I don't believe the allegations are true."

Hickman went to Esquivel with the allegations last month.

The Fresno Police Department is investigating, and Mahony said he was cooperating.

Hickman said she has been abused by many other people, including relatives.

The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that Hickman said she was motivated to come forward, in part, because she needs a cash settlement from the church, but Hickman denied in an interview with the AP that she was coming forward because she needed money.

"I said I should get compensation, but I didn't say I was in it to get compensation," she said.

The AP does not normally identify alleged victims in sexual assault cases, but Hickman gave permission for her name to be used.

Mahony revealed the accusation Friday night and denied it.

"My personal integrity and reputation demand that I take all possible steps to refute this false allegation," Mahony said.

Mahony issued his statement after a Los Angeles radio station obtained and quoted from church e-mails about abuse cases that refer briefly to the woman's claim.

On Thursday, confidential e-mails between Mahony and his staff, including his lawyers, were obtained by radio station KFI. The e-mails contained references to the church's sex abuse scandal and Mahony's concerns about the way the archdiocese was responding.

Attorneys for the archdiocese lost a court hearing Thursday to keep KFI and the Los Angeles Times from quoting from the e-mails.

Los Angeles police have said they are investigating reports that the archdiocese has removed six to 12 priests accused of sexual abuse in cases dating back 10 years. The e-mails suggest the number of priests removed is eight.

In one e-mail, Mahony wrote that the archdiocese erred by not turning over the names of three priests to police.

The names of the priests have now been turned over to police. Church officials said the e-mails were illegally obtained.

Hickman told of another incident involving Mahony during which she claims he hit her. The incidents occurred between 1969 and Hickman's graduation the next year, she said.

A 1970 San Joaquin Memorial Catholic High School yearbook contains a photo of Hickman, confirming she was a member of the graduating class that year.

Mahony, 66, became the head of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1985 and was elevated to Cardinal in 1991.

[kiryandil]

The allegation was passed on to reporters for The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times in the waning days of the 1992 Presidential campaign. Regarding it as the kind of toxic waste traditionally dumped just before Election Day, both newspapers passed on the story -- that a nursing-home executive had been sexually assaulted in 1978 by Bill Clinton, then the Attorney General of Arkansas.

The rumor persisted in the shadowlands of the Internet, even after a sworn denial by Juanita Broaddrick, the woman involved. Mrs. Broaddrick reversed herself last spring, during questioning by investigators for the independent counsel, Kenneth W. Starr. Last month, during the impeachment process, she decided to make the assault charges public in an interview with NBC News. Then she chafed because the interview was not broadcast.

Now, Mrs. Broaddrick has found a different avenue to tell her story, giving several news organizations, including The New York Times, an account of an encounter with Clinton in an Arkansas hotel room. The interviews represent the first time she has spoken openly about an accusation first made public last March. In the interview, she describes a scene in which Clinton invited himself to her room and then attacked her.

President Clinton's personal lawyer, David A. Kendall, has strenuously denied the charge. "Any allegation that the President assaulted Mrs. Broaddrick more than 20 years ago is absolutely false," he said in a statement released on Friday in response to reporters' inquiries. "Beyond that, we're not going to comment." The White House declined further comment Tuesday.

=====================================

How different things are when you're on the Left Wing Media's hit list!

[cricket]

"I said I should get compensation, but I didn't say I was in it to get compensation," she said.

. . .saw this 'woman' on TV and thought immediately how pathetic this was; and that she surely was not telling the truth; and what she was saying, was not for the right reasons.

[cricket]

"Based on the integrity that Drudge has often shown, there's reason to hope he'll make amends. I'll be listening tonight to his radio show."

True, Drudge 'often' shows integrity; but not always; or maybe it is just the occasional 'immaturity' or somesuch. I hope he 'fixes this'; but would not hold my breath for a Drudge 'mea culpa'. . .

. . .hope I am wrong.

[garbanzo]

Of course people are skeptical - this one involved a female...just kidding folks, just kidding...

[Cicero]

Drudge played a very important role during clinton's last years, but since clinton's term started to run down he has contributed virtually nothing. His frequent attacks on Bush, since the start of the 2000 campaign, have been catty and vindictive. I don't think Bush is perfect by any means, but Drudge's treatment of him has been just plain silly.

[speekinout]

This poor sick woman is being exploited by people who want to cash in on the scandal. It doesn't matter to them that they are destroying the reputation of an innocent man.
I know some priests are guilty of really vile behavior, but this claim should never have been reported. It's cruel to both Mahoney and this woman.

[thegreatbeast]

Here in the archdiocese of Boston the entire front end of the local news shows are allegations about the admiitedly serial dereliction of duty by the church hierarchy (who with any sense of opprobrium would resign their offices.) But it's all driven by the sharks who will screw the victims out of outrageous contingency fees. Lately, they've been parlaying their bids with allegations against a DEAD cardinal!

[Hibernius Druid]

Boston is the Vatican of Secular Humanism.

[speekinout]

There have been some horrible things happening in the Boston diocese. But that isn't typical of the church as a whole. I just hope that we won't try to cover up the wrongs. After all, they are few given the good that the church does.