CHARGES AGAINST PRIEST DISMISSED.Byline: Staff and Wire Services PALMDALE - Charges were dropped Tuesday against a retired priest accused of molesting a former Paraclete High School Paraclete High School is a Catholic High School in Lancaster, CA operated independently of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. 186 seniors graduated in the 2006-2007 school year. student and four other boys, the latest case to fizzle fiz·zle intr.v. fiz·zled, fiz·zling, fiz·zles 1. To make a hissing or sputtering sound. 2. Informal To fail or end weakly, especially after a hopeful beginning. n. since a Supreme Court ruling reinstated the statute of limitations A type of federal or state law that restricts the time within which legal proceedings may be brought. Statutes of limitations, which date back to early Roman Law, are a fundamental part of European and U.S. law. on sex crimes. Malibu Superior Court Commissioner Terry Adamson granted the prosecution's request to dismiss the 42 counts against the Rev. Michael Wempe in light of the high court decision last month rejecting as unconstitutional a California law California Law consists of 29 codes, covering various subject areas, the State Constitution and Statutes. See also
The charges against Wempe had spanned from 1977 to 1986. Wempe, 63, who was forced last year to retire by Cardinal Roger Mahony His Eminence Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony (born February 27, 1936) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as the fourth Archbishop of Los Angeles, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1991. , was assigned to St. Mary's Parish in Palmdale in the late 1970s and early 1980s and taught at Paraclete, a Catholic school. ``I think it's the luckiest day of his entire life. Unfortunately, he should be behind bars,'' said R. Richard Farnell, an attorney who filed a sexual abuse civil lawsuit against Wempe. ``He has damaged irreparably the lives of numerous boys who will live the rest of their lives with the impact that he made on them. It's unfortunate that justice has been denied.'' Wempe's attorney, Leonard Levine, said his client was ``very grateful'' but ``sorry he didn't have a chance to defend himself in court'' against the charges. Criminal charges have been dropped against four of the 10 former priests charged in Los Angeles County in child molestation Child molestation is a crime involving a range of indecent or sexual activities between an adult and a child, usually under the age of 14. In psychiatric terms, these acts are sometimes known as pedophilia. cases dating back several decades. Wempe, a retired priest, chaplain and teacher, was arrested June 19 as he left his Seal Beach home, and had been held on $2 million bail. He was released on his own recognizance own recognizance (O.R.) n. the basis for a judge allowing a person accused of a crime to be free while awaiting trial, without posting bail, on the defendant's own promise to appear and his/her reputation. shortly after the Supreme Court's decision. Wempe had remained an active priest until March 2002, when he was forced to retire. The victims were between 7 and 16 at the time of the alleged incidents, which occurred at various locations in Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego counties, prosecutors said. Wempe came under investigation earlier in 2002 when complaints were made by three adults who said they were molested mo·lest tr.v. mo·lest·ed, mo·lest·ing, mo·lests 1. To disturb, interfere with, or annoy. 2. To subject to unwanted or improper sexual activity. by Wempe when they were teenagers. Wempe also had served at St. Jude Church in Westlake Village and Sacred Heart Church The Sacred Heart Church may mean:
The lawsuit filed by Farnell in April 2002 on behalf of two brothers in Orange County claimed Wempe molested one of the brothers in the early 1980s in the St. Mary's parish rectory. The lawsuit said Wempe brought the boy, who then lived in Ventura County, to the Palmdale rectory and spent the night with him in his room. The lawsuit said archdiocese officials were told before 1979 that Wempe had acted or attempted to act sexually inappropriately with the two brothers, and responded by moving him from parish to parish. About 1988, the lawsuit said, Wempe was asked by the archdiocese to take a leave of absence because of ``scandal involving ... other minor parishioners.'' |
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