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In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors.
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Former L.A. priests arrested and ordered to trial
Friday June 20, 2003
By SANDRA MARQUEZ
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) The sex abuse scandal surrounding the Los
Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese took another turn when two
former priests were arrested and a third was ordered to stand trial
on child molestation charges.
Michael Wempe, 63, accused of molesting five children between
1977 and 1986, was arrested Thursday as he left his Seal Beach
home. Wempe, who was forced to retire last year by Cardinal Roger
Mahony, was being held on $2 million bail.
In Stockton in Central California, Titian A. Miani, 76, was
arrested at his home for investigation of molesting two girls in
the 1960s while he was a priest assigned to the Los Angeles
Archdiocese.
Multiple counts of child molestation are expected to be filed
against both former priests Monday.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said the
arrest ``shows law enforcement's determination to ensure justice
for sexual abuse victims.''
With Thursday's arrests, 10 former and current priests and one
ex-seminarian have now been charged by the Los Angeles County
district attorney's office.
``These are people who are not in ministry today and they have
to face justice,'' said church spokesman Tod Tamberg. ``It's one of
the steps along the way of dealing with what happened in the
past.''
Lee Bashforth, 33, a Newport Beach stock broker who says Wempe
molested him and his brother from 1976 to 1985 while Wempe was a
Ventura County parish priest, said word of the arrest gave him
``tremendous relief.''
``It's been 15 months of agony since I went to the Police
Department and reported what he did to me when I was a little
boy,'' Bashforth said. ``My hope is that he is prosecuted to the
full extent of the law. I hope he goes to prison for a long time
for what he has done to kids.''
Meanwhile, Superior Court Judge Frederick N. Wapner ruled that
there is sufficient evidence for retired priest Matthew Michael
Sprouffske, 76, to stand trial on four counts of lewd acts with a
child.
His arraignment was scheduled for July 3.
Sprouffske's cousin testified Thursday that she has a clear
memory of being molested nearly 50 years ago by Sprouffske while he
was assigned to Mount Carmel High School. She said he later
admitted to her that he had also molested both her sisters and
another girl who was not a relative.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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