SEX ABUSE TRIAL BEGINS FOR FORMER A.V. PRIEST.

Byline: Brad A. Greenberg Staff Writer

Retired priest Michael Wempe had a formula for The Seduction.

He searched for weak families, with boys needing a father figure. After winning the mother's trust, he would take her son camping or motorcycle riding or to fire rifles in the woods. First it was with a group, but soon he sought alone time.

Then he began the fondling, which culminated in molestation.

That model was outlined Monday by prosecutors as Wempe's molestation trial got under way in Los Angeles Superior Court - a pattern that even Wempe's attorney conceded.

``He violated the trust of a priest and the decency of any person by molesting numerous children,'' defense attorney Leonard Levine said. ``For that, there is no excuse, there is no explanation and there is no defense. And none will be offered.''

What will be offered, Levine said, is evidence that Wempe did not molest the man who has accused him of abuse during the early 1990s. Wempe faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted of five counts of molestation.

Wempe has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail.

Eight men who will be called as witnesses claim they were sexually abused while Wempe was an associate pastor in Palmdale, Ventura and Westlake Village and taught at a Catholic high school in Lancaster.

Wempe, 66, has admitted molesting them and five others. But he cannot be charged in these cases because they occurred between 1972 and 1987, which is beyond the statute of limitations.

And Levine claims that Jason, now 25, made up the allegations after a U.S. Supreme Court decision barred prosecution of Wempe for molesting his two older brothers and others prior to January 1988.

But the accuser in the current contends the abuse began in 1990, after Wempe renewed an acquaintance with his family. He was 11 at the time and having a difficult time with his stepfather, so he welcomed a relationship with the family's former priest.

Deputy District Attorney Todd Hicks said the youth was molested about once a year over the next five years.

At the time, Wempe was the Catholic chaplain at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He recently had returned from New Mexico, where Cardinal Roger Mahony sent him for therapy in 1987 after another priest reported ``boundary violations,'' according to church records.

``It was believed this type of compulsion could be treated,'' Tod Tamberg, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said in an interview. Church officials have since admitted that was folly.

Hicks described Wempe, who was forced to retire in 2002 amid allegations of abuse, as ``cool'' and ``hip,'' a charismatic priest whose parishioners followed him whenever he was reassigned.

``Everybody loved Mr. Wempe,'' Hicks said. ``It was an honor to know him and it was an honor to be around him.''

Despite his popularity and potential to climb the church hierarchy, Wempe never ascended beyond associate pastor. That was because of his ``dark side,'' Hicks said.

``If you were to define the defendant's lifestyle,'' the prosecutor said, ``it would be: Preach on Sunday, molest Monday through Friday, pray on Saturday.''

Wempe sat quietly with his attorney. He wore a gray suit and a striped, blue tie. His hair was kempt and his thin beard trimmed short. His face was red.

He looked relaxed and refreshed, laughing with Levine before jurors entered, and emoted little during opening statements, except when the prosecution described alleged acts of abuse. At one reference, the retired priest rolled his eyes and appeared to mouth, ``Oh my God.''

Wempe has become infamous since the clergy sex scandal erupted in Boston in 2002 and rippled across the country. Eleven men, including the current accuser and his brothers, are suing Wempe in civil court.

The retired priest was arrested and charged in June 2003 with 42 counts of sexual abuse, but was released from jail weeks later after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a California law allowing prosecution in cases that occurred before 1988.

Brad A. Greenberg, [phone]

brad.greenberg(at)dailynews.com