Posted on 01/18/2014 11:23:29 AM PST by Salvation
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:
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.
Los Angeles Attorney Declares Rampant Fraud, Many Abuse Claims Against Catholic Priests are ‘Entirely False’
"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)
If there is money to be had, it’s not surprising scammers would jump on.
I’m not surprised. Take away the financial incentive, and a large number of claims disappear. It’s been a propaganda gold mine for atheist proselytizers and the left, though.
False abuse claims: even in my little circle, I know of two, personally. I am not surprised.
Investigated many claims? And based on that he tell his boss 1/2 are false or exaggerated? Define exaggerated. Kid was only raped once, not twice? How many are exaggerated versus false?
This article is pathetic. Why am I not surprised considering who is paying the attorney fees.
No surprise. Unfortunately because of public opinion the only choice is to settle which in most eyes is admission and continues the vicious cycle.
I have had gays tell me that some gay organizations openly assist false claimants as a part of their war on the Church.
While yes, I am sure there are fraudulent cases, please don’t close your hearts to all the victims there ARE. I have some association with SNAP, and there are wonderful grown men (and women) who can give you excruciating details and names as to their abuse at the hands of clergy (or other authorities). And though the Catholic Church gets the worst rap (I believe because some pedophiles CHOOSE to fake their calling and go Into the priesthood to avoid trappings of normal marriage and to have a higher than thou vantage point and access to young victims), there are pedophiles in the Protestant and in the Jewish — even the orthodox — clergy too.
To use your power, and abuse Gd’s, in order to destroy children is so evil, no house of worship should ever focus on some who want to get in on a scam when there are living, breathing, precious people who have been abused.
In my little circle, I know of three.
So sad that this happened to innocent priests.
That doesn’t surprise me either....a way to move their homosexual agenda forward.
A defense attorney says half his clients are innocent. Shocker.
Who is paying/has paid the lawyer?
And protestant FReepers.
It is a relief to know that only half the reported cases of reported sexual abuse are true and many are somewhat exaggerated.
It does suggest a new PR campaign...”We don’t rape half as many kids as you think we do!”
**•”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.”**
Did you miss this? The priests passed the lie detector tests, but the accusers refused to take them......hmmm....sounds like those accusers are fraudulent!!
Please check the dateline of this story. LOL! It’s not new!
I agree that prayers are needed for all.
I think it’s been obvious for years that a good number of these claims have been bogus. Not all but many. We need to find ways to sift claims better and a whole lot quicker. Anyone can claim anything and it takes years to resolve. This is not a just system.
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