Los Angeles Attorney Declares Rampant Fraud, Many Abuse Claims Against Catholic Priests are ‘Entirely False’

January 2, 2011 By TheMediaReport.com

In a stunning ten-page declaration recently submitted to the Los Angeles County Superior Court, veteran attorney Donald H. Steier stated that his investigations into claims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests have uncovered vast fraud and that his probes have revealed that many accusations are completely false.

Counselor Steier has played a role in over one hundred investigations involving Catholic clergy in Los Angeles. In his missive Mr. Steier relayed:

"One retired F.B.I. agent who worked with me to investigate many claims in the Clergy Cases told me, in his opinion, about ONE-HALF of the claims made in the Clergy Cases were either entirely false or so greatly exaggerated that the truth would not have supported a prosecutable claim for childhood sexual abuse."
(Capital letters are Steier's)

Mr. Steier also added, "In several cases my investigation has provided objective information that could not be reconciled with the truthfulness of the subjective allegations. In other words, in many cases objective facts showed that accusations were false."

Mr. Steier's declaration is a stunner. He is as experienced as anyone in studying the claims of abuse against Catholic clergy in the Los Angeles area. Also among Steier's eye-opening statements:

"I have had accused priest clients take polygraph examinations performed by very experienced former law enforcement experts, including from L.A.P.D., the Sheriff Department, and F.B.I. In many cases the examinations showed my clients' denial of wrongdoing was 'truthful,' and in those cases I offered in writing to the accuser to undergo a similar polygraph examination at my expense. In every case the accuser refused to have his veracity tested by that investigative tool, which is routinely used by intelligence agencies."
"I am aware of several plaintiffs who testified that they realized that they had been abused only after learning that some other person – sometimes a relative – had received a financial settlement from the Archdiocese or another Catholic institution."
"In my investigation of many cases, I have seen the stories of some accusers change significantly over time, sometimes altering years, locations, and what activity was alleged – in every case, the changes seemed to have enabled or enhanced claims against my clients, or drastically increased alleged damages."
"I am aware that false memories can also be planted or created by various psychological processes, including by therapists who might be characterized as 'sexual victim advocates,' if not outright charlatans."
"Most of the approximately seven hundred psychiatric 'Certificates of Merit' filed in these Clergy Cases, as required by [California] Code of Civil Procedure § 340.1, were signed by the same therapist." (!) (Note: A "Certificate of Merit" from "a licensed mental health practitioner" is required in California before filing an abuse lawsuit.)

Steier signed and submitted the declaration "under penalty of perjury" November 30, 2010. Los Angeles County Superior Court officially filed it at 11 a.m. on December 15, 2010.

Steier also took aim at the outspoken advocacy group SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests):

They maintain an interactive Internet website with a user 'Forum' and 'Message Board,' among other features, where people can share detailed information between alleged victims pertaining to identity of specific alleged perpetrators, their alleged 'modus operandi,' and other details of alleged molestation. In effect, a person who wanted to make a false claim of sexual abuse by a priest could go to that website and find a 'blueprint' of factual allegations to make that would coincide with allegations made by other people. Law enforcement also uses the S.N.A.P. website to attempt to locate new victims and allegations against Catholic priests.

Needless to say, SNAP had a fit at the sight of Steier's declaration. In a frantic press statement dated December 13, 2010, SNAP derided Steier's declaration as a "legal maneuver" that was "among the most outrageous and hurtful ever made by a church defense lawyer." In addition to claiming it will file a complaint with the California Bar Association, it demanded that Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony "denounce Steier's claims and to disclose how much archdiocesan money has been paid to Steier." (Gee, the last time I checked, SNAP steadfastly refused to divulge how much of its income is derived from the number of lawyers with whom it closely collaborates!)

Yet there is a glaring absence from SNAP's statement. The organization does not refute nor deny any of the specific claims made by Steier. It simply labels them as "outrageous" and "hurtful." That is hardly a blow to the explosive declaration aired by the veteran attorney.

Yes, Catholic priests terribly abused minors, and bishops failed to stop the harm. That's an undeniable truth. There are few crimes that revolt more than sexual abuse. The abuse of minors is a dark episode that the Church will forever have to live with.

Yet major media outlets have largely ignored a major element to the entire Catholic abuse scandal narrative.

Here is Wall Street Journal writer Dorothy Rabinowitz:

"People have to come to understand that there is a large scam going on with personal injury attorneys, and what began as a serious effort has now expanded to become a huge money-making proposition."

Surprise: Ms. Rabinowitz made her remark in 2005. Since then, the Church has doled out an additional $1 billion in settlements.

Will 2011 be the year that the media finally begins to take a closer look at many of the claims being made? What about the suspicious relationships between SNAP, lawyers, and many in the media? (Vincent Carroll at the Denver Post is a rare voice of acknowledgement: "[F]raudulent or highly dubious accusations are more common than is acknowledged in coverage of the church scandals — although they should not be surprising, given the monumental settlements various dioceses have paid out over the years" (Oct. 10, 2010).)

Stay tuned.

I am a Catholic because of the CONSERVATIVE doctrine of the faith. Last time I checked the Catholic Church didn’t allow sodomite “marriage”, believe in women clergy, or abortion of any kind. And I live my faith.

So you are in the minority...You do not represent the majority of the liberal, derelict, degenerate members of the Catholic body of Christ as you guys would like to call yourselves...

No one...Again, no one is criticizing conservative members of your religion...It is your liberal, molesting queer loving, criminal protecting religion that allows and condones this degenerate activity from the top down that we criticize...

It is not what your religion says that matters...What your religion does is what matters...And when you self-proclaimed conservatives defend that wretched religion's practices, we can pretty much see which way the wind is blowing (no pun intended)...

You need to be concerned with 97% of all your black protestant brothers (most who go church) casting their vote for OBAMA!

They are not dumb enough to call themselves the one, true religion...They don't claim I have to bow down to Jesse Jackson to be a Christian...They don't claim I have to direct all my prayers thru Oprah Winfrey or any other woman...

I concentrate on the False religion that tries to usurp the righteousness that Jesus Christ will give to all who will receive him in their heart, not their stomach...

Don’t Catholics claim that priests can determine who goes hell? Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Absolutely not!

When a priest refuses a person absolution, the only legitimate reason is that the person has said that he does not repent. I had to do this once. The person confessed a grave sin. I said, "Are you going to stop?" And he said, "No."

But that is not "determining" that he is going to hell. He may be ignorant, or insane, or immature.

I have always understood that passage in Matthew to be referring to God the Father. It certainly does not refer to any human being on earth.

One often hears that when the Church declares someone excommunicated, that the Church is "sending (or condemning) so-and-so to Hell." Absolutely not. All the Church is saying is that the person is doing something objectively gravely evil, such that reception of the sacraments would be scandalous and sacrilegious, unless there is repentance.

BTW: Nancy Pelosi is not excommunicated, but should be. (And so should all pro-abortion Catholic politicians, as pro-lifers have been saying for 45 years.)

Even though she is not excommunicated, Canon 915 MANDATES that she be denied Communion. This is not a penalty, but Cardinal Donald Wuerl has repeatedly lied, saying that it is. He lies about this so that he can pretend that he has discretion about whether to "apply" this "penalty." Actually, he is simply disobeying Canon Law.

Wuerl is undoubtedly coddling Pelosi and other pro-abortionists because he fears exposure in the press. Wuerl is a notorious homosexual, and if Pelosi were to give the word, the mainstream press would splash what is common knowledge in Washington on the front pages. The ongoing scandal of pro-abortionists' receiving Communion is eating the heart out of the Catholic Church in America. We should hope that Rome will appoint a new bishop to Washington who is not subject to blackmail as Wuerl is.

http://www.donaldwuerl.com

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.