OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) A high-stakes battle over what the
Catholic Church owes victims of sexual abuse in Northern California
begins this week as lawyers debate a controversial state law that
calculates church liability.
Pretrial hearings in the church abuse cases resume Wednesday in
Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland when the Judge Ronald
Sabraw hears the case of Rev. Arthur Ribeiro, who is accused of
molesting Catholic school boys at Queen of All Saints Church in
Concord in the early 1960s. He died four years ago.
Ribeiro's case is being used as a test case for a state law
adopted two years ago that temporarily lifted the statute of
limitations and allowed adult victims to seek damages for sexual
abuse that occurred decades ago.
About 900 lawsuits were filed last year under the provisions of
the new law. They have been consolidated into three batches of
litigation, including more than 150 Northern California lawsuits
collectively known as Clergy III. Clergy I and Clergy II include
hundreds of similar claims in Los Angeles and San Diego.
At issue in the Clergy III proceedings is not what Ribeiro is
accused of doing, but rather whether church leaders were negligent
in preventing the abuse. Judge Sabraw's decision on whether to set
a trial date could offer insight into how he'll rule on other
Clergy III cases.
None of these lawsuits may ever reach a jury, but court rulings
over the next few weeks could decide whether Catholic dioceses will
pay millions of dollars to settle these claims out of court.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)