Now he tells us
An AP story (click on this post's title) today (Aug. 13) reports that Bishop Daniel Walsh of Santa Rosa has now apologized for waiting three days this last spring to tell authorities that Fr. Xavier Ochoa, 68, had admitted to him that he had homosexually abused a 12-year-old altar boy.
Fr. Ochoa took advantage of the delay to decamp to Mexico, where he apparently remains. A warrant is out for him on 10 felony raps and one misdemeanor involving three boys.
In a one-page public statement, Bishop Walsh says he "made an error in judgment" and chose "caution" instead of "doing the right thing." He says he knows his apology could get him charged with a crime; a probe has been underway. State law requires medical, school and clergy personnel to report claims of sex abuse of children right away.
The bishop says, "If I am found guilty for not taking immediate action, I will accept whatever punishment is imposed."
There might be more to the story. Reports are circulating that veteran author-researcher Mrs. Randy Engel's forthcoming new 1,318-page book, The Rite of Sodomy: Homosexuality and the Roman Catholic Church, discusses Fr. Ochoa, his connection with the resigned Bishop Patrick Ziemann and what Fr. Ochoa might know about members of the clergy in California.
Our Lady, Queen of the Clergy and Help of Christians, pray for us!
Fr. Ochoa took advantage of the delay to decamp to Mexico, where he apparently remains. A warrant is out for him on 10 felony raps and one misdemeanor involving three boys.
In a one-page public statement, Bishop Walsh says he "made an error in judgment" and chose "caution" instead of "doing the right thing." He says he knows his apology could get him charged with a crime; a probe has been underway. State law requires medical, school and clergy personnel to report claims of sex abuse of children right away.
The bishop says, "If I am found guilty for not taking immediate action, I will accept whatever punishment is imposed."
There might be more to the story. Reports are circulating that veteran author-researcher Mrs. Randy Engel's forthcoming new 1,318-page book, The Rite of Sodomy: Homosexuality and the Roman Catholic Church, discusses Fr. Ochoa, his connection with the resigned Bishop Patrick Ziemann and what Fr. Ochoa might know about members of the clergy in California.
Our Lady, Queen of the Clergy and Help of Christians, pray for us!
posted by Quintero at 8:30 PM
14 Comments:
Come on, really!
If you look at the chronology of the situation, the bishop met with the priest on Friday afternoon (at the priest's request), where the guy told the bishop what he had done and the bishop there and then stripped him of faculties. The next day, Saturday, he told the diocesan attorney to make a report to Child Protective Services, which he did first thing Monday morning, the very next business day. You also must realize that such a report requires filling out government forms. See the chronology at http://www.santarosacatholic.org/news/releases/0606frochoa.pdf
If you learn something late on Friday and report it with the proper forms first thing on Monday, that's not delaying. You're making a mountain out of a molehill. Bishop Walsh did the right thing. He should be commended for this, not condemned.
Anon,
Nonsense. When you become aware of a felony, any delay in reporting it is unacceptable. As soon as Ochoa left his office, Walsh should have picked up the phone and called the police or CPS himself. (They actually do work on the weekends.)
Anon: Bishop Walsh himself is admitting his "error in judgment," admitting that he failed to do the "right thing." Why can't you admit that he failed to do the right thing?
Something tells me Anon doesn't have any 12 year old sons. If it was a long weekend, would reporting it the next Tuesday be okidoki?
Please. Father Ochoa has a history of man-boy diddling and his bishop knows all about it.
To All,
The Bishop is a mandated reporter of any suspected child abuse and must report such cases immediately or as soon as possible and a written report within 36 hours. That is the law in California. Child Protective Services(CPS) are on-call 24/7. The written report is a simple one-page document which may include attachments. Mandated reporters cannot pass that responsibility to an attorney or anyone else, it is their sole responsibility to make the report. As a citizen, the Bishop also has a civil and moral obligation to immediately report such a crime to the police. All of this is know to the Bishop and his staff.
Patrick, I'm not aware of the longer chronology of this case. How long had the chancery known of Ochoa's predeliction? A few weeks? A few years? When did Bp. Walsh come on the scene? How many other prelates were in on this previously?
Bishop Mark Hurley was one of our Spiritual Directors, and I am sure he is turning over in his grave over this.
Kenneth M. Fisher
The Bishop Zieman connection is intriguing. We are just scratching the surface. God help us if and when the homosexual priest abuser scandals with all their diabolical filth are fully revealed.
It all adds up. Just look at how "soft" Mahony and his episcopal cronies are when it comes to homosexuality. They even praise it as if it were a virtue.
Dear Gravey,
Thank you for the thorough info. on the reporting requirements.
The failure of the bishop to act immediately is inexcusable, especially given that any just-found-out child molester is a definite flight risk and some other such clergy have fled in similar circumstances.
Dear Anonymous 1:12 a.m.,
The three child victims and their families know that they and prosecutors are not making a mountain out of a molehill.
ANYONE who ATTACKS children is a CRIMINAL, and a VIOLENT and DANGEROUS one. Such CRIMINALS have not only previous victims but FUTURE ones. For us to PROTECT kids, we need to put the CRIMINALS out of circulation RIGHT AWAY.
The police are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Waiting three days to report crimes against a child is not justifiable.
As the saying goes, we need to PROTECT CHILDREN, NOT MOLESTERS.
Anon:
Forgive me, but you sound a tad shocked -- shocked -- at all this. Your questions would take too long to sufficiently answer. C. Matt Abbott has summarized the background surrounding Bp Walsh and his well-placed gay-friendly episco-cronies relative to Father Ochoa's nocturnal interests.
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/15717.html
There you have it. Another case where the bishop is more concerned with "what will people say," than doing the right thing. But at least in this case, although belatedly, Bishop Walsh actually grew a conscience. Imagine that!!
In Orange County, during the 1980's, an evil impersonator of our Lord named, Father Eleuterio Ramos [aka "Big Al"] operated with impunity. He was a good-time Charlie to the boys because of his charm, loudness, his love of telling ribald jokes, and providing them with booze, to ply them.
The acts "Big Al" committed against a girl and many young boys are just too disgusting and horrible to describe. Whenever the bishop would get a complaint against him, it was business as usual: Just move him to another parish! In fact, reassignments were how the hierarchy dealt with this man duriung his whole career in active ministry. Even after verified complaints proved that this monster should have been defrocked, which he never was! I guess the hierarchy has never heard of Canon 1722.
Big Al's life ended in obscurity in a trailer park in Whittier, California, crippled by disease and alcoholism. He never served a day in jail for his crimes.
BTW, Big Al was a seminarian at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo. Sound familiar, Your Eminence?
A complete account of this creature and his evil deeds was written up by Gustavo Arellano in the OC Weekly, in December of 2005.
Dear MVH,
I see via a Web search that you are referring to an article by Gustavo Arellano, "The Damning Documents," in the Orange County Weekly of December 14, 2005, which quotes from the Diocese of Orange personnel file on the priest.
That article links to a previous one by Arellano, "King of County Pedophiles," in the Orange County Weekly, which quotes from a May 2003 Orange police report on the priest.
According to today's newspaper, Bishop Walsh may well be on his way to jail, could Mahony be next?
Kenneth M. Fisher
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