Salem-News.com

Tim King
June 25th, 2009

After clearing the House, House Bill 2827 will go to Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski to be signed into law.

(SALEM, Ore.) – A bill that would raise the age of sex abuse victims in Oregon from 24 to 40 will likely become law. The future of House Bill 2827 appeared bleak when we wrote about it May 28th 2009. (see: Will Oregon Stand for Sex Abuse Victims? – Tim King Salem-News.com

Many of the cases originate from churches in Oregon and experts like Portland Attorney Kelly Clark, say it often takes several decades for a person to comprehend the magnitude of their experience and come forward.

Bill Crane from the group SNAP, (Survivors Network of people Abused by Priests) says it is a good day in Oregon and while cautious, he agrees that it is good news on a day that could use it.

Molly Woon with the Oregon State Legislature says H.B. 2827 passed through the Senate Floor today, after moving through the Oregon House unanimously.

Woon says there was an amendment and the bill has to now go back to the House for concurrence. The change, "removed definition of causable connections between injury and child abuse," according to Woon.

She says it amounts to a technical fix.

After clearing the House, House Bill 2827 will go to Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski to be signed into law.

 Additional Sex Abuse Documents on Catholic Priests Made Available on Abuse Website

For More Information:
Kelly Clark, Esq.
503-306-0224
kellyc@oandc.com

Portland, Ore—Fr William McLeod, one of the most prolific abusers of children in the history of the Archdiocese of Portland, is the subject today of the latest post on the public service website www.archpdxpriestfiles.com, a site maintained by lawyers representing abuse victims.

The documents from the Archdiocese of Portland files, plus additional material gathered in litigation, were posted today, according to Kelly Clark, one of the lawyers responsible for the site. "Though he received far less attention than some of the other priests such as Fr Thomas Laughlin, Fr Maurice Grammond or Fr Aldo Orso Manzonetta, Fr William McLeod had nearly a dozen victims just that we know about, and he was responsible for incalculable damage to Catholic children," said Clark.

The website was initiated after the Archdiocese of Portland was ordered by an arbitrator, US District Judge Michael Hogan, to release files on abusive priests as part of the conclusion of the Archdiocese of Portland bankruptcy. The website so far has posted documents on three priests, namely Fr Rocco Perone, Fr Aldo Orso Manzonetta and Fr William McLeod.

More files on these and other priests will be posted in the future, according to Clark

###

by Bryan Denson and Nancy Haught
The Oregonian
Wednesday February 18, 2009

The ink on the Northwest Jesuits’ bankruptcy filing was still drying Wednesday when wrangling over the value of the Catholic order’s assets commenced.

Officials at a handful of Jesuit-sponsored institutions said they don’t belong to the Jesuits and aren’t subject to their legal problems, while lawyers who represent people sexually abused by priests said the province has grossly underestimated its worth.

Kelly Clark, a Portland lawyer who has represented victims of Jesuit priest abuse, said he was surprised to read that the Jesuits declared assets of just $4.8 million in their Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing late Tuesday in Portland. And he expects a legal fight over properties commonly associated with the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, better known as the Jesuits.

"They’re going to say that they don’t own Jesuit High School, Gonzaga University, Seattle University and maybe other institutions — even though those institutions were Jesuit established, Jesuit dominated," Clark said. "I think the legal question will be, are they Jesuit controlled for purposes of determining equitable ownership? So there are going to be a number of hard-fought legal battles."

Clark said the Jesuits’ estimate of assets isn’t unprecedented. In 2004, he said, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland underestimated the value of its assets in its initial bankruptcy filing, a calculation that — after much legal wrangling — was corrected by the court. He predicted a similar battle ahead for the Jesuits.

The Oregon Province of Jesuits, including its leader, the Rev. Patrick J. Lee, would not comment on the bankruptcy on Wednesday, said spokesman Pat Walsh. But the leadership of Jesuit High School, St. Andrew Nativity School and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps said their institutions are not owned, financed or governed by the Jesuit province and that the bankruptcy won’t affect their programs.

"We have never shared assets with the province," said John Gladstone, president of Jesuit High School in Beaverton. The school has been separately incorporated since its founding in 1956, he said. Expecting that the Oregon Province might declare bankruptcy, the school consulted its own attorneys. "They looked at our bylaws, how we’re set up financially and structurally … and they told us we’re very safe," he said.

In a letter sent to the parents of Jesuit High’s 1,160 students Wednesday, Gladstone and Principal Sandy Satterberg said there were no pending claims against any Jesuit High priest and that the school is "not at risk in any way as a result of the province’s bankruptcy filing."

Lawyers who represent victims of alleged abuse by Jesuit priests scoffed at Tuesday evening’s comments by Lee, who had described the order’s decision to file for Chapter 11 reorganization as the only way to offer a fair settlement to claimants.

"Does anybody really believe that the Jesuits, who’ve raped hundreds and hundreds of Native (American) kids, are filing bankruptcy to help them?" asked John Manly, a Newport Beach, Calif., lawyer who represents native Alaskans who have accused Jesuit priests and their colleagues of sexual abuse.

Tuesday’s filing wasn’t an altruistic endeavor, he said, describing it as a calculated effort to prevent more victims from coming forward, halt the legal discovery process — and the bad press that comes with it — and downplay the order’s assets.

"I’ve been litigating with these guys for the better part of 10 years," Manly said. "I’ve never seen them try and help a victim. Their idea of help is to file a motion for summary judgment and dismiss. They fought the Alaska Supreme Court to get these cases dismissed and lost, and that’s why they’re in bankruptcy — not to help people, (but) because essentially their legal options have run out."

by Bryan Denson and Nancy Haught
The Oregonian
Wednesday February 18, 2009

The ink on the Northwest Jesuits’ bankruptcy filing was still drying Wednesday when wrangling over the value of the Catholic order’s assets commenced.

Officials at a handful of Jesuit-sponsored institutions said they don’t belong to the Jesuits and aren’t subject to their legal problems, while lawyers who represent people sexually abused by priests said the province has grossly underestimated its worth.

Kelly Clark, a Portland lawyer who has represented victims of Jesuit priest abuse, said he was surprised to read that the Jesuits declared assets of just $4.8 million in their Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing late Tuesday in Portland. And he expects a legal fight over properties commonly associated with the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, better known as the Jesuits.

"They’re going to say that they don’t own Jesuit High School, Gonzaga University, Seattle University and maybe other institutions — even though those institutions were Jesuit established, Jesuit dominated," Clark said. "I think the legal question will be, are they Jesuit controlled for purposes of determining equitable ownership? So there are going to be a number of hard-fought legal battles."

Clark said the Jesuits’ estimate of assets isn’t unprecedented. In 2004, he said, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland underestimated the value of its assets in its initial bankruptcy filing, a calculation that — after much legal wrangling — was corrected by the court. He predicted a similar battle ahead for the Jesuits.

The Oregon Province of Jesuits, including its leader, the Rev. Patrick J. Lee, would not comment on the bankruptcy on Wednesday, said spokesman Pat Walsh. But the leadership of Jesuit High School, St. Andrew Nativity School and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps said their institutions are not owned, financed or governed by the Jesuit province and that the bankruptcy won’t affect their programs.

"We have never shared assets with the province," said John Gladstone, president of Jesuit High School in Beaverton. The school has been separately incorporated since its founding in 1956, he said. Expecting that the Oregon Province might declare bankruptcy, the school consulted its own attorneys. "They looked at our bylaws, how we’re set up financially and structurally … and they told us we’re very safe," he said.

In a letter sent to the parents of Jesuit High’s 1,160 students Wednesday, Gladstone and Principal Sandy Satterberg said there were no pending claims against any Jesuit High priest and that the school is "not at risk in any way as a result of the province’s bankruptcy filing."

Lawyers who represent victims of alleged abuse by Jesuit priests scoffed at Tuesday evening’s comments by Lee, who had described the order’s decision to file for Chapter 11 reorganization as the only way to offer a fair settlement to claimants.

"Does anybody really believe that the Jesuits, who’ve raped hundreds and hundreds of Native (American) kids, are filing bankruptcy to help them?" asked John Manly, a Newport Beach, Calif., lawyer who represents native Alaskans who have accused Jesuit priests and their colleagues of sexual abuse.

Tuesday’s filing wasn’t an altruistic endeavor, he said, describing it as a calculated effort to prevent more victims from coming forward, halt the legal discovery process — and the bad press that comes with it — and downplay the order’s assets.

"I’ve been litigating with these guys for the better part of 10 years," Manly said. "I’ve never seen them try and help a victim. Their idea of help is to file a motion for summary judgment and dismiss. They fought the Alaska Supreme Court to get these cases dismissed and lost, and that’s why they’re in bankruptcy — not to help people, (but) because essentially their legal options have run out."

by Bon Babwin and William McCall
Associated Press
Wednesday February 11, 2009

Cleveland Local News

In other developments, a Portland, Ore., man has filed a $4 million lawsuit against the Franciscan Friars of California, alleging childhood sexual abuse by a priest.

In an unrelated lawsuit seeking $3.25 million, a pastor for the Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and its Roseburg Junior Academy was accused of sexually abusing a 5-year-old girl in 1992.

The complaints were filed by Portland lawyer Kelly Clark, one of the lead attorneys in a number of sexual abuse cases against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland that ended in a $50 million settlement in 2007. Three years earlier, the archdiocese was the first in the nation to declare bankruptcy.

Calls to Franciscan officials were not immediately returned Wednesday.

An Adventist spokeswoman referred calls to an attorney, who was not immediately available.

The lawsuit against the Franciscan Friars, a Catholic order, was filed Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

A 62-year-old man listed only by his initials alleges he was abused as a teenager by Father Claude Riffel at the St. Francis Minor Seminary in Troutdale, east of Portland, in the early 1960s.

According to the lawsuit, Riffel was dean of discipline for the school when he would call the teenager out of class on the pretext of assigning work and then abuse him.

In a statement released with the lawsuit, Clark noted the Franciscan Friars of California is an independent Catholic organization unaffiliated with any diocese.

The lawsuit against the Adventist pastor, who was identified only by his initials, alleges he took the 5-year-old girl to an isolated area of the Roseburg Junior Academy during a "week of prayer" and abused her.

Clark called the case "one of the worst I have seen."

The girl is now 21 and attends community college, he said.

2/11/2009
The Associated Press
www.OregonLife.com

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Portland man has filed a $4 million lawsuit against the Franciscan Friars of California, alleging childhood sexual abuse by a priest.

The 62-year-old man was listed only by his initials in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

The Franciscan Friars are an order of the Roman Catholic Church. The complaint alleges the man was abused as a teenager by Father Claude Riffel at the St. Francis Minor Seminary in Troutdale in the early 1960s.

In an unrelated lawsuit seeking $3.25 million, a pastor for the Western Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and its Roseburg Junior Academy was accused of sexually abusing a 5-year-old girl in 1992.

The pastor was identified only by his initials.

February 11, 2009

For More Information:
Attorney Kelly Clark
(503) 306-0224 or kellyc@oandc.com

Portland, Ore–Today a Portland man filed a $4M child sexual abuse lawsuit against the Franciscan Friars of California, an order of the Roman Catholic Church, for abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of Father Claude Riffel at the St Francis Minor Seminary in Troutdale in 1962-65.  According to the lawsuit, Fr Riffel, then the Dean of discipline for the school, would call the then 15 year old boy out of class on the pretext of assigning him work tasks, at which time he would abuse him.  The abuse occurred, according to the suit on “scores” of occasions. 

The case was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court by Portland attorney Kelly Clark, who frequently handles such cases against churches, schools, the Boy Scouts, athletic leagues and other “institutions of trust” that work with children.  St Francis Seminary was owned and operated by the Franciscan Friars, headquartered in California. The Franciscan Friars of California is a part of the worldwide Catholic order of Franciscans, formally known as the Friars Minor. It is an independent Catholic entity unaffiliated with any diocese, including the Archdiocese of Portland, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2004 as a result of a torrent of child abuse lawsuits.

 ###

View the Official Complaint Here

BY KRISTIAN FODEN-VENCIL
November 28, 2008
www.opb.org

Days after a judge ordered the Archdiocese of Portland to release documents involving the abuse of children by priests, lawyers have created a webpage to display the information. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.

The documents were part of the 2007 agreement, in which the archdiocese paid $50 million dollars to settle 170 lawsuits.

The archdiocese put about half the documents on a webpage in the spring. But it refused to release others saying they weren’t relevant.

Judge Michael Hogan ruled Wednesday only some of the papers could be held back because of active litigation or jurisdictional issues.

Attorney Kelly Clark, who represented 40 victims, says they’ll be putting the new documents into chronological and geographic order.

Kelly Clark: "I would imagine people who would be wanting to be using this would be people who were themselves victimized, faithful men and women who simply want to know what about my parish?"

The church’s papers can be found at archdiocesedocuments.org.

The lawyers version, which will expand as documents are sorted, can be found at archpdxpriestfiles.com.

© 2008 OPB

BY PETE SPRINGER - OPB News
November 26, 2008

U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan Wednesday ordered the Archdiocese of Portland to release files of pedophile priests that the Archdiocese has been withholding.  Pete Springer reports.

Over a year ago, the Archdiocese of Portland agreed to release files on pedophile priests as part of a $70 million bankruptcy settlement.

They did release some documents, but refused to release others, claiming they contained personal information about priests not involved in the lawsuit.

But after months of arbitration and reviewing the documents, Judge Hogan rejected that argument.

His ruling is binding and cannot be appealed.

An attorney who represented the priest sex abuse victims in the bankruptcy case was not available for comment but says in a media release that he plans to use a website to post the church documents so that “the public can understand the history of the problem”.

Attorneys for the victims are planning to discuss the ruling publicly on Friday.

The Associated Press
11/27/2008, 4:40 p.m.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge ordered the release of more documents from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland that may shed light on how church officials responded to allegations that priests sexually abused minors.

The order from U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan on Wednesday was a result of the settlement in 2007 of about 175 lawsuits for $50 million to end the first bankruptcy filing in the nation by a Catholic diocese.

After the settlement, victim advocates and church officials disagreed over how many documents to release.

Hogan’s order requires the archdiocese to release documents about allegations of sexual misconduct by priests involving minors and the knowledge of the archdiocese about the allegations, or its response to them.

He said the order doesn’t apply immediately in the cases of priests involved in a related dispute over disclosure or in pending litigation.

Hogan’s decision says names of victims have been redacted from the documents.

Portland lawyer Kelly Clark, who represented more than 40 victims, praised the decision and said it meant the archdiocese must release almost all of the disputed documents.

"This is a good day for survivors, and all the men and women abused as boys and girls by priests of this archdiocese can feel rightly proud that they have stood their ground and did not let the archdiocese back out of its commitments," Clark said.

He said a Web site is under construction that will organize the documents so readers can understand the history of cases and how church officials enabled or covered up abuse.

The archdiocese released a statement that said almost all of the misconduct occurred from 1940 to the mid-1980s.

"Today the Archdiocese of Portland has comprehensive child protection policies and programs," it said, including an Office of Child Protection and national programs to audit protections and ensure that people who work with minors are appropriately screened.