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  SNAP Seeks Case Probe
Focus Put on Judge's Objectivity

By Susan Abram
Los Angeles Daily News [California]
February 23, 2005

Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - SANTA CLARITA - A national support group of sex abuse victims is questioning the decisions made by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, in light of his suicide in Newhall and allegations he was under investigation for child molestation.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, also known as SNAP, filed a letter Tuesday with presiding Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William MacLaughlin, asking him to review the cases decided on by Judge Lloyd Jeffrey Wiatt, a Valencia resident.

The letter asks MacLaughlin to specifically review sex abuse cases handled by Wiatt, who members of SNAP say may have been lenient on such hearings.

"If Wiatt was a molester himself, how could he possibly treat molestation victims with fairness?" said Mary Grant, Western Regional Director for SNAP. "Citizens and taxpayers need to know whether the victims of sex crimes were treated impartially by Wiatt or not."

No charges were filed against Wiatt, who drove to Towsley Canyon Park Feb. 10 and shot himself to death after sheriff's deputies responded to a domestic violence call at his home. Sheriff's deputies said at the time Wiatt was despondent over family problems and an allegation of child molestation against him. Detectives from the sheriff's family crimes bureau, which investigates such crimes, were talking to the judge on the phone as he sat in his car in the park.

Members of SNAP, a 6,000-strong national group that formed as a result of misconduct by Catholic priests, said they are basing their allegations that Wiatt may have rendered a biased decision after he dismissed a former nun's sexual abuse lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles because there wasn't enough evidence to prove the church conspired to cover up an alleged rape by a Roman Catholic priest. Wiatt also was the Superior Court judge who delivered a death sentence to a woman who killed her four daughters four years ago in a fire she set in their Seco Canyon home.

In addition, members of SNAP also are asking that MacLaughlin "send a mailing to all attorneys and persons who had sex abuse cases and juvenile cases where Wiatt was president and ask if they or their witnesses were hurt in any way by Wiatt."

"As you should know, victims of sexual abuse often suffer for years in secrecy, with overwhelming feelings of guilt, blame and shame," according to SNAP letter. "When the abuser is a trusted authority figure in the community, it is all the more difficult for victims to report the crimes to police."

Wiatt worked at the Chatsworth courthouse for the past three years, overseeing civil cases. Previously, he presided over criminal trials at the San Fernando courthouse.

A spokeswoman with the Los Angeles Superior Court said there has been no response by MacLaughlin.