SF Catholic church group is sued for cover up

By Tim Lennon
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
September 10, 2014

http://www.snapnetwork.org/sf_catholic_church_group_is_sued_for_cover_up

SF Catholic church group is sued for cover up

Priest threatened to kill a young boy he molested

And his supervisors guilt-tripped the boy's mother

They threatened her with “eternal damnation” over “lost souls”

SNAP to priest's boss: “Tell parishioners where offender is now”

“Put him in treatment center and explain your deceit,” they say

Group seeks help from archbishop in “reaching out” to other victims

WHAT

Holding signs and childhood photos, clergy sex abuse victims will urge Bay Area Catholic officials to"

--disclose the whereabouts of an admitted child molesting cleric who was sued last week and was quietly sent at least twice to unsuspecting parishes without warning,

--put the predator priest in a secure treatment facility where he can’t be near kids,

--explain why they allegedly transferred the cleric out of the US, and

--discipline a priest whose still on the job who deceived parishioners and refused to tell them their pastor admitted molesting a boy.  

WHERE

Outside of Capuchin Religious Order Provincial headquarters, 1345 Cortez Ave. in Burlingame CA

(A church and school are on the same campus.

WHEN

Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 1:00 p.m.

WHO

Three-four men and women who are members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), the nation's largest and oldest support group for men and women abused in religious and institutional settings

WHY

Last week, a Burlington-based Catholic religious order was sued because it allegedly concealed the child sex crimes of a priest. The priest, Fr. Luis Jaramillo, first molested in Los Angeles, then admitted molesting in Oregon in 1988-89. But his supervisors never told law enforcement and successfully threatened and guilt-tripped the boy's mother into staying silent.

His church supervisors refuse to say where he is now but some believe he is in Mexico or Argentina.

After being accused of molesting two boys in Los Angeles, Fr. Jaramillo was transferred from Los Angeles to eastern Oregon in 1987, the suit says. Then, he abused again. “A Capuchin Franciscan supervisor asked Fr. Jaramillo about the alleged abuse; court documents say Fr. Jaramillo admitted to 'kissing the boy on the mouth and petting his legs and fondling his genitals,'” according to The Oregonian, After the boy told his mother about the abuse and that Fr. Jaramillo threatened to kill him if he resisted, the mother complained to church officials, the suit alleges.

Catholic officials tried “to silence the family, allowing the then-admitted pedophile cleric to escape the country

to avoid criminal prosecution,” according to a news release by the victim's attorneys.

“Fr. Jaramillo admitted to his Catholic supervisor that he sexually assaulted a boy but not one church official ever told the police,” aid David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP's director. “Instead, a top Catholic official intimidated and guilt-tripped the boy's mom into staying silent. And the admitted molester was sent away with no warning, likely to work around vulnerable families in Mexico and Argentina.”

“This is another in a seemingly endless string of heartbreaking cases of clear deceit and recklessness by Catholic officials,” said Tim Lennon, SNAP's San Francisco volunteer director. “Fr. Jaramillo might be sexually assaulting children right now and his current supervisors might be exploiting their families' devotion to God and the church to keep them quiet.”

According to BishopAccountability.org, an independent, Boston-based research group, Fr. Jaramillo was ordained in Colombia, South America and worked in the Los Angeles Archdiocese where he was accused of abuse of two kids between 1986-1988. (This was disclosed in a 2005 archdiocesan report. Apparently, the first civil abuse suit against him was filed in December 2003. His supervisors moved him in 1987 to Oregon.

Ten pages of Fr. Jamarillo's long-secret personnel file are posted on line

They contain some shocking and disturbing revelations, SNAP says, including letters from Fr. Jaramillo's then-supervisor, Fr. Gerald Barron, who

--never called police, even after Fr. Jaramillo admitted abuse,

--wrote “Thank God that the family did not proceed to prosecute” (page 8)

--lied to parishioners about why Fr. Jamarillo was yanked from their parish, and

--proposed sending Fr. Jamarillo to Mexico or Sicily (page 10)

Fr. Barron is still a Capuchin and now works at a Catholic church in Santa Barbara County (Old Mission Santa Ines, 805 688 4815, 805 686 4127 http://www.missionsantaines.org/home.html)

SNAP wants the current head of the Capuchin western Province, Fr. Matthew G. Elshoff (650 342 1489, ofmcap@comcast.net), to “harshly and publicly” discipline Fr. Barron for “endangering kids by hiding Fr. Jaramillo's crimes.”

And SNAP wants Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone publicly criticize the Capuchins for their actions in the case and use his resources to seek out others who may have “seen, suspected or suffered” crimes by Fr. Jaramillo or cover ups by Capuchin officials.

The victim named in the suit as "John JP Doe" and now in his 30s. He is represented by LA attorney Anthony M. DeMarco of Pasedena CA (626 844 7700, 310 927 9277, anthony@DeMarcoLawFirm.com) and Kristian Roggendorf of Portland OR (503 726 5927). DeMarco also represented Fr. Jamarillo's LA victims.

A copy of the lawsuit, filed in federal court in eastern Oregon, is here.

Defendants include the Capuchins (official name: the Capuchin Franciscan Friars), the bishop of the Baker OR Catholic diocese and Our Lady of Angels Catholic church in Hermiston Oregon, where Fr. Jaramillo molested.

The victim, named in the suit as "John JP Doe," now in his 30s. He says Fr. Jaramillo “regularly” molested him when he was a young altar boy.